The SunClans: Rise of the Darkness: Book 1
by Skypaw298
Summary: Follow the story of Badgerpaw, a ForestClan apprentice, as he falls in and out of love, survives betrayal and loss. Please R&R! Rated T, just in case... ehehe.
1. Allegiances

Allegiances

ForestClan

Leader: Tabbystar- light brown tabby tom with amber eyes  
Deputy: Coldheart- white with black splotches on heavy fur  
Medicine cat: Thistleleaf- brown she-cat  
Apprentice, Whistlepaw  
Warriors: Lightstep- brown tabby she-cat with brilliant emerald eyes  
Darkshadow- light gray tom  
Adderfang- orange tom with a fiery attitude  
Apprentice, Badgerpaw  
Frogpond- cute white-gray tom  
Apprentice, Owlpaw  
Creamtail- cream-furred she-cat, Tabbystar's mate  
Grayfoot- short-whiskered gray tom  
Apprentice, Spottedpaw  
Leopardstorm- golden she-cat with spots like a leopard  
Apprentice, Brightpaw  
Ashclaw- strong gray tom with green eyes  
Apprentice, Jollypaw  
Shadowtracker- handsome white tom, Foxpelt's mate  
Apprentices: Spottedpaw- brown tom with flecked ears, muzzle, chest, and tail-tip  
Badgerpaw- black-masked gray tom with fiery amber eyes  
Owlpaw- small mottled brown tom  
Brightpaw- mottled brown she-cat  
Jollypaw- blue-gray she-cat; always has moss on head  
Whistlepaw- fluffy gray she-cat  
Queens: Goldenheart- golden colored queen  
(Kits: Navykit, Daisykit)  
Lilyflower- purple from Twoleg paint  
(Kits: Bluekit, Yellowkit)  
Foxpelt- red tabby fur  
(Kits: Blizzardkit, Russetkit)  
Elders: Thumptail- tortoiseshell she-cat with amber eyes  
Yawnfoot- small black tom

MoorClan

Leader: Froststar- pure white she-cat  
Deputy: Molefoot- long-haired brown tom  
Medicine cat: Songwind- gray she-cat  
Apprentice, Thymepaw

Warriors: Breathstep- gray tom  
Apprentice, Quickpaw  
Streampelt- lithe blue-gray she-cat  
Apprentice, Breezepaw  
Brokenfang- brown tabby tom with icy blue eyes  
Thrushwing- black tom  
Apprentice, Pantherpaw  
Starlingbeak- annoying brown she-cat  
Apprentice, Troutpaw  
Queens: Tawnyear- mottled brown she-cat  
(Kits: Goldkit, Wildkit, Larchkit)  
Elders: Graypelt- thin gray tom  
Slackfoot- slow cream-colored she-cat

DarkClan

Leader: Nightstar- large jet black tom  
Deputy: Pineheart- dark ginger she-cat with eerily glowing green eyes  
Medicine cat: Lavenderpelt- pretty silver she-cat  
Apprentice, Tansypaw  
Warriors: Shade- jet-black she-cat, Nightstar's daughter  
Buzzardfeather- black and white tom  
Apprentice, Nightpaw  
Cracklepelt- russet-colored tom  
Crowtail- mottled dark brown she-cat  
Apprentice, Gingerpaw  
Queens: Frothwing- pregnant pale white she-cat  
Covepelt- cream-colored queen  
(Kits: Lakekit, Grasskit, Windkit)  
Elders: Redeye- old brown ambitious tom  
Swishtail- gray tom  
Ringpelt- infectious mottled brown tom

StreamClan

Leader: Icestar- pale white she-cat  
Deputy: Mistfur- mysterious silver she-cat  
Medicine cat: Aquapelt- blue-gray tom  
Apprentice, Cedarpaw  
Warriors: Branchclaw- brown tom  
Apprentice, Cheetahpaw  
Lightingtail- fast black tom  
Apprentice, Jetpaw  
Firestorm- handsome ginger tom  
Apprentice, Bramblepaw  
Leopardtail- spotted she-cat  
Palefoot- pale tom with hazel eyes  
Peachear- peach-colored she-cat  
Queens: Sandpelt- pale ginger she-cat  
(Kits: Leafkit, Skykit, Dapplekit)  
Pebblenose- golden tabby she-cat  
(Kits: Cloudkit, Longkit, Ashkit, Swiftkit)  
Elders: Heavyfoot- thickset tabby tom  
Quickstep- dark tabby she-cat  
Thrushfeather- smoky gray tom


	2. Prologue

**A/N: Here's the Prologue. Hope you enjoy! ^^**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors, thank you very much. And, uh, no flaming allowed either. I hate flamers. They, like, don't have lives or something, and thrive on the annoyance of others. Yeah.**

**PROLOGUE  
**

A light brown tabby tom paced the ground boredly, staring at his paws.

"Tabbystar," a pretty brown she-cat walked up to him. It was the medicine cat,

Thistleleaf.

" Is Creamtail going to be okay?" the tabby warrior asked, worry shining in his wise

amber eyes.

"Yes, she has only but a few scratches on her hind leg. She will heal quite quickly," the

medicine cat reassured her leader. She stared at the pretty orange sunset past Tabbystar's

den. "Oh…" she appeared to be going into a trance. Her voice rang out loud and clear.

"There will be a betrayal and an uncertain death; doom shall befall the Clan but a mighty

warrior will arise from the ashes and put a stop to the reign of the foreign cat who claims

what is not rightfully his. The great forest animals shall be the warrior's subjects, as he is

the King among them."

Tabbystar blinked in sudden surprise. "Can you tell me more?" he asked cautiously.

Thistleleaf was out of her trance, and she looked up at the strong warrior. "I'm sorry,

Tabbystar. I would tell you more if I could, but this is all that StarClan has told me. I

have no idea what the prophecy means, but it sounds very important, I'm sure." She

dipped her head once, and backed out of the cave-den.

Tabbystar shook his head in wonder. Thistleleaf was right: Whatever the prophecy

meant, it was very important. But for now, he should worry about other matters.


	3. Chapter 1

**A/N: Okay, little news flash here. Sorry for not updating in about 2 months. Forgive me! I was grounded. Well, I kinda still am, and I'm kinda sneaking onto the computer, but, uh... yeah.**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN WARRIORS. ERIN HUNTER DOES. SO THERE.**

**Another word of reminder... I do **_**not**_** like flamers. If you have nothing nice to say then don't say anything at all. Remember that, please. I am also not very good at first chapters (plus I started writing this story a while ago) so it's a bit rusty. You may flame me for that. That's all I will say on the matter. R&R! ^^**

_**CHAPTER**_ _**1**_

Badgerpaw took the moss carefully in his teeth and stumbled out of the medicine den. He turned around to face Thistleleaf, "Thank you," he mumbled around the mouthful of moss. She twitched her ears in acknowledgement as she sorted through the herbs.

The apprentice was a medium-sized gray tom, and he had a black face, which was very unusual. His amber eyes twinkled knowingly when he was in the glare of the sun, and his grin was as wide as a hare's.

The masked apprentice turned back around and streaked across the clearing to the Elders' Den. "I'm back!" he gasped, and dropped the moss on the ground when he was inside the dark cool cave. The cave was built under the roots of a tree, and it was an ideal place for retired warriors to rest their tired bones, never to chase another mouse again, or possibly fight in an all-Clan battle.

Thumptail, an old tortoiseshell she-cat, gazed warmly at him. "That was quick," she rustily purred.

"Faster than your pal, Owlpaw, it looks like," Yawnfoot remarked as a certain mottled brown cat stumbled in.

Owlpaw tripped over a stray stick, causing his chin to bump the ground. "Ow," he meowed. He muttered darkly as he got up, and shook scraps of moss from his pelt. "Oh, hello there," he brightly mewed, as if just noticing the three cats staring at him with wide eyes. Not a cat stirred.

"Well…?"

"Ah, hey," Badgerpaw greeted his best friend rather awkwardly. He took the old moss from the elders' nests, and put them in a pile outside the den. Then he shuffled back to the new pile and started spreading out the balls into little nests. As he worked, he looked up at Thumptail. "Can you tell us a story about how Tabbystar became leader?" he pleaded, eyes gleaming.

"Of course," the tortoiseshell purred. She was a better story-teller than Yawnfoot, but that was to be expected, since she had a more active imagination than him. "Now then, let's see… How should I tell it…? Ah, I know just the one! Now, Firestar was born long before old Yawnfoot was. You two knew that, right?" she looked from Owlpaw to Badgerpaw, who both nodded. "Surprising to say, Yawnfoot knew him when he was a kit, and by then even Firestar had passed the age of retiring to the Elders' Den many moons before. His deputy Brambleclaw had been killed by a warrior named Ashfur, Sandstorm was killed in a thunderstorm by a lightning bolt, and even Firestar's best friend Graystripe had died. He was run over by a boat on the lake while he was demonstrating how to catch a fish for his apprentice, Cloverpaw. In fact, all the cats the fiery pelted leader had known as an apprentice and young warrior had died.

"He was so miserable, that he died as well. His sickness had clouded the fact that Tigerstar's ambitious grand-daughter was the deputy, and had to take place as Leader after he passed on. Tigerfang was almost like the reincarnation of Tigerstar, except she was much more powerful, clever, and skilled, and she had even lived in ShadowClan once with her mother, Tawnypelt. She felled any cat who dared to argue with her, making her widely known as the most dangerous cat in the forest which adds to the fact that her claws were long and thorn-sharp like Tigerstar's. The dark tabby she-cat was even more feared than her grand-father and the long-forgotten Scourge put together. Miserable seasons after her long and spiteful rule, Tabbystar, then Tabbypelt, stood up and challenged her in a battle. It was a long fight but Tabbystar won. Every cat in ForestClan knew that he was the one to succeed her for StarClan had decreed it to be so, even though a different cat was deputy. So, after that, Tabbypelt became Tabbystar." Thumptail finally took a shaky drawing breath and sighed. "Satisfied?"

"Yes…" Badgerpaw and Owlpaw murmured quietly.

"Wow, old Yawnfoot knew Firestar!" Badgerpaw excitedly whispered to Owlpaw.

"I know!" Owlpaw whispered back.

"Badgerpaw!"

"Owlpaw!"

Adderfang and Frogpond poked their heads into the den. "Badgerpaw, moon-high patrol, remember?" Adderfang reminded his apprentice. "Let's go, come on!"

"You too, Owlpaw," Frogpond mewed.

"Okay!" Owlpaw squeaked like a kit.

The two apprentices followed their mentors into the clearing of the ForestClan camp. Coldheart, the deputy, was sitting in the center by the fresh-kill pile, giving orders to Grayfoot and Leopardstorm. The two young warriors flicked their tail-tips in obedience and dashed out the camp entrance. When Badgerpaw looked at him, Coldheart curled his lip in a sneer and stalked into the darkness, tail lashing.

When the group of border patrollers were well away from the camp, Owlpaw whispered to Badgerpaw, "What was up with Coldheart?"

"How should I know?" Badgerpaw snapped in irritation. Why did his friend always have to ask so many questions?

Owlpaw blinked. "I don't know, either."

The patrol broke into a run and didn't stop until they reached the sandy border with DarkClan. Badgerpaw glanced back. The birch tree forest was behind them. He felt so exposed to danger without any undergrowth to hide him. They had just had a battle with DarkClan recently, and they didn't want to look more of a threat padding around so close to the stream-border, as if they were planning to invade the territory.

"Now, what do you smell?" Adderfang gently urged Badgerpaw.

Badgerpaw closed his eyes and let the wild scents drift across his scent glands. He could scent many things! "Uh, I can smell prey, the border markers, fox…" his whiskers twitched with worry. "No wait, it's two or three days old, I'd say. Maybe going to the stream for a drink. And that's about it…"

Adderfang's eyes gleamed with pleasure. "Excellent," he purred. "We'll make a warrior out of you yet."

Frogpond turned to Owlpaw. "Your turn. What do you smell?"

Owlpaw closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. "Oh, pretty much the same as Badgerpaw," he smirked.

Frogpond's ears twitched in irritation, and Adderfang's twitched in amusement.

"Well scented, young apprentices!" a voice sneered from the undergrowth on the other side of the stream.

A border patrol of DarkClan cats strode out of the foliage, with Pineheart coolly swaggering in front. The other cats that made up the patrol were Buzzardfeather, Crowtail, and a small bracken-colored apprentice who was swaggering along with the ginger-furred Crowtail at her side. "Gingerpaw, tell me what you can scent," the she-cat hissed to her apprentice.

"Cats that are going to turn into crow-food for trying to invade DarkClan territory!" Gingerpaw bristled savagely.

"We were on a patrol without you interrupting it, mousedung!" Owlpaw mutterd under his breath.

Pineheart seemed to have heard. "I'll mousedung you, puny apprentice!" she screeched, lunging herself across the border, claws outstretched.

"Oh no, you don't!" Adderfang flung himself at her, pinning her down while she thrashed at him with her strong hind legs. He scratched at her face and she yowled in pain, and squirmed out of his grip, kicking sand into his eyes. She fled.

"And don't come back, mousebrains!" Owlpaw called after them as the DarkClan cats ran back to the safety of their camp.

Badgerpaw's tail lightly touched his friend's shoulder. "You've done enough for one night."

Owlpaw hung his head. "Okay…"

Frogpond came over to Adderfang. "Are you alright?" he asked, concerned. "Why don't we get you back to camp?"

"Good idea," the fiery orange warrior muttered, quickly licking his chest fur. Turning to Owlpaw he meowed, "Try to curb your tongue next time we meet an enemy Clan patrol, _okay_, Owlpaw?"

"Yes, Adderfang, but they insulted us on open ground!" the mottled brown apprentice hissed.

"That doesn't matter! Just try not to get us into trouble next time, alright?" Adderfang spat, and stalked back to the camp.

Badgerpaw and Frogpond gave Owlpaw looks of sympathy, but he ignored them. Tail dragging and head hanging, he shuffled back to camp.

When the moon-high patrol got back to the camp, Adderfang went to the medicine den, while Shadowtracker and Frogpond gravely talked about what had happened on the patrol.

"Let's go get some sleep," Badgerpaw suggested to Owlpaw. "Maybe we'll feel better in the morning."

"Just what I was planning, Badgerpaw," Owlpaw muttered.

The two apprentices slunk into the apprentices' cave-den, careful not to disturb any of the other apprentices, and promptly fell asleep in their nests.

When Badgerpaw opened his eyes again, he saw that dawn was creeping through the roots of the oak tree that served as the apprentices' den.

Jollypaw was waking up. _Oh no,_ he thought. _I'd better slip away before she starts an argument with me._

She tossed her head high in the air, sending moss flying on to Spottedpaw's head. He thrust his head up and glared at her. "Um, do you mind? I was just sleeping," he hissed at her.

"Well, excuse me!" she mewed, rolling her eyes at him. "_Um, do you mind?_" she mocked.

Badgerpaw grimaced. Jollypaw and Spottedpaw always got into fights. And it was not pretty. He slipped away while they were still throwing insults at each other.

As he padded to the fresh-kill pile, he noted Shadowtracker trotting into the Nursery. His mate was in there, taking care of their kits, Russetkit and Blizzardkit. Then he heard a screech, "Fox! It's a fox!"

Sudden terror filled Badgerpaw's mind. This must be the fox he had scented the night before! And it had found its way to the Nursery! Warriors streaked out of the warriors' den. Fear lent speed to Badgerpaw's paws and they carried him all the way across the clearing; he skidded to a screeching stop and peered through the bramble-covered entrance. Immediately he spotted a huge hulking shape: a dog fox.

Shadowtracker looked like he feared the worse. "Badgerpaw!" he screeched. "Get the queens and kits out of here! _NOW!_"

Badgerpaw knew better than to protest a warrior's commands, even one that wasn't his mentor. He crept in under the thorn covered branches, and slunk over to the nests. Quietly and calmly he coaxed all the queens to bring their kits out into the open. When that task was done, he went back into the Nursery for further orders from Shadowtracker. "Now what?" he asked the white warrior who was fiercely battling with the fox.

"Get Tabbystar, Coldheart, and Adderfang to come! Hurry!" he circled the fox, looking for a weakness. "Go!"

"Right," Badgerpaw nodded, and streaked away, yowling for the mentioned warriors to hurry into the Nursery. They did, and Adderfang ordered Badgerpaw to stay outside with the rest of the anxiously waiting Clan.

He waited impatiently as yowls and snarls were exchanged. He finally heard fighting, and scampered up to peek inside the Nursery just as the dog fox pinned Tabbystar and bit at his throat. The tabby warrior lay still, his eyes glazed over. He was losing a life.

"Nooo!!" Badgerpaw shrieked and lunged into the Nursery, slashing at the fox. It was taken completely by surprise and it did not like it.

Adderfang was completely taken by surprise too. "Badgerpaw?" he gasped. "But I told you-"

The dog fox shook the masked apprentice off like he was a flea.

"No," Badgerpaw growled. He lunged, tearing for the fox's face. He was batted to the side easily. The fox crept towards the winded apprentice, a victorious snarl plastered on its face.

"Badgerpaw!" Adderfang yowled and barreled into the dog fox. But it was too quick, one blow and Adderfang toppled over heavily onto the fox, writhing in pain. It had been a perfect aim. Blood was now pouring from his slashed throat.

His weight crushed the fox; now it was struggling to breathe as well.

"Adderfang, no!" Badgerpaw sobbed, realizing that his mentor was dying. He ran over and pressed his tiny nose into the brave warrior's thick fur.

"Good-bye, Badgerpaw," Adderfang choked. "I will meet with you again in the ranks of… StarClan…" Then his emerald eyes dulled and glazed over; his death took the fox with it, for it had suffocated under his heavy fur.

Badgerpaw kept his nose in his mentor's fur. The fur was growing cold. Adderfang was dead.

A wail of grief and mourning tore from Badgerpaw's throat.

Tabbystar and Coldheart joined in. "Adderfang was a great warrior. He will forever be remembered," Tabbystar murmured.

Badgerpaw and Coldheart picked up Adderfang's body and carried it out of the Nursery with Tabbystar right behind

.

When they got to the center of the clearing, they laid the body down, and Badgerpaw sat vigil beside it. "Not now, Badgerpaw," Coldheart hissed. "We only sit vigil as the sun starts to set. Right now, Tabbystar has a new mentor in mind for you."

Badgerpaw nodded, a little embarrassed, as Tabbystar leapt onto the High-Branch. "Well, I can see that all the cats are gathered now from the fox," he quietly observed, casting a glance through the already-gathered crowd." A few moments passed. "Badgerpaw," he announced.

Badgerpaw padded up to Tabbystar. "Your mentor has died, and I will now appoint you a new one.

"Lightstep," he called.

The brown warrior stepped forward, head proudly raised. This was her first apprentice.

"Lightstep, your mentor Shadowtracker has taught you many things. I trust you to pass on all your wisdom to Badgerpaw for the rest of his moons as an apprentice."

Lightstep dipped her head, and Badgerpaw ran up to touch noses with her. His eyes were shining with grief, but also with joy.

"Badgerpaw! Badgerpaw! Badgerpaw!" the cats cheered.

When the cheering subsided, and all the cats walked off muttering to each other, Badgerpaw noticed Coldheart slipping out through the camp entrance. He thought he was hallucinating, but a moment later he told himself that it was all just his imagination.

"Okay, now where do you want to start?" Lightstep asked Badgerpaw, completely oblivious to the fact that Coldheart had left the camp without telling Tabbystar.

"Can we –uh- go on a patrol or something?" Badgerpaw pawed at the ground, casting a side-glance at the camp entrance.

"Of course," his new mentor purred. She looked up at the High-Branch where Tabbystar still sat, warmly surveying the camp. "Tabbystar, may we go on sun-high patrol?"

Tabbystar leapt off of the High-Branch, and padded over. "Yes you may, take Frogpond and Ashclaw with you."

"Okay. Frogpond, Ashclaw!" Lightstep called.

They came over. "Yes?"

"Sun-high patrol, come on," she flicked her tail and skipped out of the camp with the rest of the patrol following.

"Let's go to the MoorClan border, and see how they are!" Badgerpaw suggested brightly.

"Sure, and after that, we can check the DarkClan border," Frogpond mewed.

They had been walking for a while when Badgerpaw smelled something that really stank. It was a familiar scent… It was not fox, or badger, but it was… "DarkClan!" Badgerpaw whispered to the three warriors. "There's a strong scent coming from the other side of those bushes!"

"What? DarkClan?" Ashclaw asked worriedly.

"I smell it too! There are rogues!" Lightstep mewed softly.

"Badgerpaw, go check it out," Frogpond ordered.

The masked apprentice happily obliged and climbed to the top of a tree. He peered out through the green leaves, hoping that the cats below wouldn't be able to see him. Suddenly, two pairs of eyes blinked in the undergrowth. One pair was amber, and the other was green.

Pineheart stuck her head out. "All clear," she mewed to the cat beside her.

"All right, move on!" a gruff voice hissed. The bracken trembled and revealed bristling warriors of DarkClan and many rogues, all eyes hungry for battle. There were a lot of them.

The cats started heading for the ForestClan camp, and Coldheart padded out of the undergrowth.


	4. Chapter 2

**A/N: My computer is downstairs, in the basement. Oh gosh, how cold it gets down here! I'm all shivery. But, I suppose you don't care much about my personal woes. So, just ignore little ol' me, and get on with reading my story. By the way, I feel like this is sloppily written. Forgive me. I still don't like flamers that much, alright. So stay away from the review button if you are about to say something nasty. A few of the reviewers on my other story (I deleted it) flamed my story pretty bad, so I'm not too into flamers. Nobody is. Flamers are into themselves. Because they have nothing better to do... Hmmmmm......**

**Desclaimer: If I owned Warriors, then I would be one very happy person. But I'm not happy. I'm depressed. I don't really like myself that much. But don't let me keep you from reading my ever-cheerful story. Go on, then. ^^**

_**CHAPTER 2**_

"We must get back to the camp!" Lightstep hissed up to Badgerpaw who was still stuck in the tree. He hurriedly slithered down, landing deftly on his big clumsy paws.

"Right," Frogpond and Ashclaw nodded.

The patrol scampered back to the camp to warn Tabbystar. "Tabbystar! Tabbystar!" Ashclaw yowled.

Tabbystar was sharing tongues with Creamtail, his mate. He trotted over, with Creamtail cautiously by his side. "What is it, Ashclaw?"

While the two were planning the battle routine, Lightstep told Badgerpaw to rouse the apprentices.

He twitched his ears in obedience. _This may be a bit difficult, _he thought._ Owlpaw and Brightpaw are sound sleepers._

He burst into the den and woke the still-sleeping apprentices, shaking them awake. "Wake up! Wake up! DarkClan is invading!" he snarled.

They lifted their heads. Owlpaw, Jollypaw, Brightpaw and Spottedpaw had gone back to sleep after Badgerpaw's ceremony. "Hurry!" he hissed.

They got up and scrambled out of the den. _Finally,_ he thought smugly. _They got up without arguing with me!_

He followed back outside with the apprentices. "Ready your battle positions!" Tabbystar yowled.

The warriors got into the first line of defense. Two warriors, Grayfoot and Creamtail climbed into the front trees as watch-cats. The apprentices got into the next line of defense, and the queens prowled around in the last line. The elders and kits had to evacuate into the Emergency Tunnel behind the Elders' Den, where they would be safe.

The Clan waited intensely for many heartbeats. It was as silent as a graveyard.

Suddenly, a defiant yowl pierced the silence. Pineheart pushed her way through the brambles.

Snarling, Grayfoot and Creamtail lunged from the trees and pinned her down as one.

Writhing, she tried to break free, but only got her muzzle pressed deeper into the mud. "Attack!" she yowled through a mouthful of dirt.

Triumphant yowls sounded across the clearing. Dozens upon dozens of DarkClan warriors and rogues barreled through the bramble bushes, and at least a handful of cats lunged at Grayfoot and Creamtail, knocking them away from the DarkClan deputy. Leopardstorm and Ashclaw ran over to help the two warriors.

When the last of the enemy cats came running through, Coldheart stayed hidden, but Badgerpaw could feel his eyes burning into his skin, as he stayed at the edge of the fighting.

"Badgerpaw! Go get help from MoorClan! _Now!_" Tabbystar shouted over the snarling of cats locked together in death grips.

As Badgerpaw raced off for help, a warrior broke off from the fighting and chased after him. It was Pineheart. A rustle in the undergrowth told him that Coldheart was breaking chase as well. Obviously he had stayed at the edge of the fighting too. Badgerpaw then realized that these warriors had gone off to chase him and kill him, to prevent word from ever getting to the MoorClan camp. Terrifying fear and dread lent speed to his paws. He raced so fast it felt like he was flying, and that StarClan themselves were running with him. Badgerpaw could almost see a fiery shimmer that he knew was Adderfang. "Faster, Badgerpaw, faster! They're gaining ground!" the spirit seemed to whisper.

Too quickly he arrived at the stream that marked the border between ForestClan and MoorClan. He soared over the wide stream, and pounded faster in the flat open moors.

A thump behind him clearly said Pineheart just barely got over. A splish said she fell into the water. He halted, and looked back. Pineheart had fallen in, as Badgerpaw had predicted. He saw her thrashing as she was carried down to the lake.

Inwardly he sighed in relief. Only then did he remember Coldheart. He saw the deputy prowling around by the ForestClan border. Badgerpaw swung around and dashed onward to the MoorClan camp. Moments later he arrived, panting heavily.

He burst into the camp and asked the nearest cat for Froststar. A long-haired brown tom, he looked to be quite noble.

"Froststar? I am her deputy, Molefoot."

"I'm Badgerpaw, a ForestClan apprentice. We're under attack by rogues and DarkClan warriors. Can you help us?" he panted.

"I'll check with Froststar."

"Okay," Badgerpaw mewed.

Molefoot nodded, and leapt off to a high rock with an overhang, entering a small den.

Badgerpaw looked around the camp. A few MoorClan warriors were eyeing him warily by the gorse entrance.

A pretty white apprentice with an unusual gray band of fur around her neck pranced up to him. "Hi!" she mewed cheerfully. "My name is Quickpaw, what's yours??"

"Um… Badgerpaw," he hesitantly replied, watching the pale white she-cat. She looked to be about the same age as him. _She must be as experienced as I am,_ Badgerpaw thought.

"So, uh… what brings you here, Badgerpaw?" she asked, her eyelashes fluttering innocently.

"An attack from some mouse-dung DarkClan warriors!" he hissed.

"Oh. They're no better than fox-dung!" she spat, fur bristling.

Molefoot approached with another pale white she-cat. Her lucent white fur sparkled like the shimmering sun on snow that dazzled Badgerpaw. Her pale green eyes glinted as she gazed nobly at Badgerpaw.

He dipped his head. "You must be Froststar," he murmured.

"Yes, I am," she lifted her head high over Badgerpaw to intimidate him. "Molefoot has told me that your camp is being attacked right now."

"Yes, DarkClan and rogues. Can you help us?"

"Hm. See that I will," she muttered. "Molefoot gather all the cats able to fight, then bring them to the entrance."

He dipped his head and beckoned to the warriors already in the clearing and told one of them to find some apprentices. Once all the cats were there, which took only several heartbeats, Froststar meowed, "Come."

She pelted off through the gorse with the cats following suit. Badgerpaw stayed in the back with Quickpaw.

"Oh, this'll be so much fun!" she excitedly mewed.

Badgerpaw didn't share her enthusiasm.

When they reached the stream, Badgerpaw didn't see Coldheart anywhere. The cats crossed, and continued uneasily to the camp. Badgerpaw and Quickpaw were at the head of the patrol, and they led the warriors and warriors-in-training through the forest that was ForestClan's home.

They broke into a run when they were a few fox-lengths from the camp; Badgerpaw was worried. _I hope no cat of ForestClan has died yet! _He thought desperately.

The cats burst into camp, yowling with defiance. The DarkClan cats yowled back with the same intensity.

Badgerpaw plunged into the battle, and was immediately attacked by a black and white tom. "Badgerpaw!" the attacker hissed, and slashed at his throat.

Badgerpaw dodged just in time, but dome of his fur got ripped off. He slashed at the tom, and the tom replied with another hiss. Then, Ashclaw bulled into the rogue and bit deeply into its shoulder. It yowled in pain and fled the camp. "Hah! That sure showed him right, Ashclaw?" Badgerpaw spat.

"Yes, it did," he mewed, and vanished into the throng of cats.

Badgerpaw shrugged and whirled around to face a russet-colored she-cat. The rogue hissed and lunged. Badgerpaw ducked, lay flat on his back, and raked his hindclaws at its belly.

The cat yowled in pain and fled through some bushes. Badgerpaw smirked. _This is all just too easy,_ he thought.

He looked around and saw Quickpaw battling Pineheart a few fox-lengths away. It looked like Pineheart was about to land the last blow, with her opponent pinned under her strong hind legs.

Badgerpaw was about to go help his friend, when a huge white tom barreled into his side. With a surprised gasp, he rolled head over tail into a pile of brambles. He turned around and gasped again. "Coldheart! You traitor!"

With an evil grin, Coldheart raised his paw, claws unsheathed. "Greet StarClan for me!" He was just about to land his fatal blow, when some sort of small mottled-brown bullet crashed into Coldheart, completely knocking the wind out of him.

"Owlpaw!" Badgerpaw screeched in surprise.

Owlpaw and Coldheart were locked together in a whirring bundle of screeching fur and claws. The older warrior soon detached himself, and fled with a snarl still on his face. Although Coldheart didn't flee the clearing, he fled to the one source of leadership in his home Clan: Tabbystar.

The leader was battling a young tortoiseshell she-cat- a rogue?- and was winning the battle. The rogue was bleeding heavily from a wounded shoulder, and its breathing was as shallow as a 2 foot pool. Tabbystar slashed its throat so it wouldn't have to suffer anymore.

"Owlpaw, we need to stop Coldheart!" Badgerpaw shouted to Owlpaw, who nodded enthusiastically.

The two friends sped off, shoulder to shoulder, and quickly intercepted Coldheart. Owlpaw pounced for the tail and Badgerpaw aimed for the huge warrior's shoulders.

The masked apprentice sprang, kicking his feet off the ground. He soared high and landed neatly on top of his target, gripping tightly to the thick fur. Coldheart flinched in surprise and violently started tossing his head, and bucked around trying to throw off Badgerpaw. The warrior did not succeed, but was barely able to kick Owlpaw off, who was still trying to shred the tail to bits.

"Hold on to him!" Owlpaw shrieked as he was cast to the ground by the bucking Forest Clan deputy.

A lot of the rogues and DarkClan warriors had fled the camp, leaving still only a few very determined warriors. Pineheart had fled, among many others.

Owlpaw got up and shook dust from his pelt. "I'm coming, Badgerpaw! Hold on!" he screeched, and lunged towards the fight.

Badgerpaw finally fell off of Coldheart. Lightstep, Ashclaw, Foxpelt, Shadowtracker and Creamtail took his place and got Coldheart pinned down with Lightstep, Foxpelt, and Creamtail's weight. He collapsed, spitting with rage.

Every cat but Coldheart had fled by now. "You traitors! Come back and fight!" he yowled to invisible warriors.

Badgerpaw staggered towards the small group with Coldeheart. "You're the traitor, mouse-brain," Ashclaw hissed at the deputy.

"How dare you talk to me like that! I am your deputy!" Coldheart hissed back.

"Not anymore, you aren't," came another voice. Tabbystar strode from his den; patches of fur were hanging from his pelt, and he had a few deep scratches crusted with dry blood.

"Tabbystar, you're alive!" Badgerpaw meowed hoarsely.

"Yes, and so are you. Why don't you go to the medicine den, Badgerpaw, you look rather dreadful," Tabbystar ordered him. "You too, Owlpaw."

"Yes, Tabbystar," the two apprentices chorused, and stumbled off to their destination.

"Now, I want Ashclaw, Shadowtracker, and Creamtail to take this cat to the Elders' Den and keep a close guard on him," Badgerpaw heard Tabbystar murmur as he entered the den.

"Oh, hello," Thistleleaf mumbled around a marigold leaf. "Tabbystar ordered you, I assume?"

"Yes," Badgerpaw informed the pretty oak-furred she-cat

Owlpaw purred as Whistlepaw swabbed cobwebs over his wounds. "Now hold steady," the medicine cat apprentice murmured.

"Let's get some marigold leaves over here," Whistlepaw called to Jollypaw.

"Yes, ma'am," the she-cat giggled and flung a golden-red leaf over on Whistlepaw's patient's head.

Owlpaw shook his head, and the leaf fell on the ground. Whistlepaw chewed it to a pulp and spread the juices over the cobwebs to prevent infection.

"Now for some poppy seeds." Whistlepaw disappeared among the throng of chatting cats in the den. Thistleleaf was treating Creamtail, who was apparently excused by Tabbystar to get treated.

Whistlepaw reappeared with a poppy petal. She shook it and the seeds pinged on the ground by Owlpaw's nose. He lazily lapped them up then sleepily padded to the apprentices' den.

Whistlepaw gave Badgerpaw the same treatment and sent him off to bed. The masked apprentice entered the den, and stared sleepily at his best friend, who was curled up in his moss-nest. Badgerpaw staggered to his own nest and curled up in it, already asleep.

Badgerpaw had a dreamless sleep that night. When he finally woke up, he came nose-to-nose with Quickpaw. "Hi, Badgerpaw," she mewed.

"Huh? What are you doing here?" he meowed, half-surprised, half-embarrassed.

"Well, we stayed here because it's a long walk back to our camp, and it would've taken us all the way until sun-high to reach it," she explained.

"Then… how did we get back to the ForestClan camp so quickly?" he asked her.

"Badgerpaw, I don't know. I just don't know," she whispered, her eyes brimming with… something.

Badgerpaw screeched, breaking the peaceful moment, for Jollypaw came bounding in, as if a badger was attacking her. The moss draped over her forehead flopped wildly, as if it too shared her fear.

"Froststar lost a life! Froststar lost a life!" Jollypaw meowed frantically, green eyes glittering.

"How?" Badgerpaw and Quickpaw exclaimed, exchanging glances.

"Ah… you know what? I don't know!" Jollypaw replied. Badgerpaw took a step forward and looked his Clan-mate right in the eye.

"You know something, don't you?" he growled. "Spit it out!"

"Uh, uh… go ask Tabbystar about it!" Jollypaw whimpered.

"Fine, maybe I will," Badgerpaw scowled, and flicked his tail to Quickpaw who followed uncertainly behind.

When the two emerged from the tree roots, Owlpaw ran up to greet them, with Brightpaw behind him.

"Hi-hi!" Brightpaw meowed, waving her tail as a greeting.

Badgerpaw nodded to Brightpaw, and stalked towards Tabbystar's den, Quickpaw nervously striking up a conversation with Owlpaw and Brightpaw.

Badgerpaw leapt on top of the High-Branch and edged towards the mouth of the den, overhung with lichen and dead moss.

"Uh, Tabbystar?" Badgerpaw poked his muzzle into the lichen.

"Come in," meowed a deep voice.

Badgerpaw plunged his whole head through the lichen. In Tabbystar's den, it seemed that Lightstep, Molefoot, Coldheart, Froststar and Tabbystar were holding a conference. Molefoot was the one who spoke.

"Uh-m, if this is a bad time for me to be here, I could just leave," Badgerpaw's tail twitched, and his paws did a little dance on the soft mossy floor.

"No, no, come in, and make yourself comfy," Lightstep purred, inviting him warmly.

Badgerpaw obeyed her, and hopped onto a ball of new moss, wrestling with it until it spread out into a small nest. He lay down on it, and tucked his paws beneath his chest.

Froststar assumed the same pose, her head held high with ease. "You've battled well, young apprentice," she informed him. "But, you could've done better.

Badgerpaw dipped his head; his nose touched the warm floor.

Tabbystar spoke up from his perch on Coldheart's back, "Froststar is right. I saw that you could have done better as well. But, you fought much better than most of the other apprentices."

Badgerpaw lifted his head proudly.

"Oh, I almost forgot. You came here of what accord?" Tabbystar shoved his paw into Coldheart's mouth, who was about to blurt out something.

"Right! Oh, uh, um, yeah. Jollypaw told me that Froststar lost a life."

Tabbystar and Froststar exchanged glances. "Yes, well, a cat like Jollypaw can come up with some pretty crazy ideas," Froststar calmly mewed.

Badgerpaw gazed suspiciously at her. "Jollypaw was right, wasn't she? You lost a life. What happened?"

Froststar sighed, hanging her head. "Correct. I did… lose a life. I came into combat with _Coldheart_," she emphasized the name, and continued on, "and his claw curved around the side of my head when he meant to attack my throat, so he left a huge ugly scar. I bled to death and lost a life. Later, Thistleleaf treated the wound well." She showed Badgerpaw the side of her head that was a little better looking than a bloody mess. Cobwebs were swabbed across the whole side and they were soaked in marigold juice, with bits of the leaves' pulp stuck here and there. Dry blood crusted the once-pretty sparkling white fur, making it look ugly.

Badgerpaw made an impolite little gasp.

"It is horrid, I know. I, myself, do not like it. Well," she glanced at Tabbystar.

"Yes, you have learned what you came here to learn. Go, we will decide Coldheart's destiny, for he is no longer my deputy."

"What!" Coldheart hissed, jumping up. Tabbystar was knocked aside. All the cats in the hollow tensed, ready to spring lest Coldheart should attack Tabbystar.

"I've been a loyal warrior!" Coldheart hissed again.

"Up until now," Badgerpaw pointed out.

"You be quiet! And stay out of this!" Coldheart snarled, turning to face the apprentice.

"Why don't you leave now?" Molefoot suggested helpfully to Badgerpaw.

"Yes, you should be going. Us warriors will deal with this," Tabbystar repeated.

Badgerpaw got up, dipped his head, and whisked out of the den. He flew down the tree-trunk to the Fresh-Kill Pile, where his friends were anxiously waiting.

"So, Badgerpaw, tell us what happened!" Brightpaw meowed, her eyes shining.

"Fine," Badgerpaw mewed, and told Quickpaw, Owlpaw, and Brightpaw about his excursion into Tabbystar's den.

"Well, why don't we go hunting?" Brightpaw meowed when Badgerpaw finished.

"Okay," Quickpaw replied. She padded over to a youngish gray tom who was talking with Ashclaw. A few moments later, she came back with him. "This is Breathstep. He's my mentor, and he'd like to join us!"

Breathstep dipped his head as the three apprentices introduced themselves. "I'd be delighted to join your little hunting patrol," he rasped.

Brightpaw looked delighted as well. "Oh, we'd just _love_ to show you the best place for hunting prey!" she gasped, and flicked her tail. Breathstep followed her out of the camp entrance.

Owlpaw, Badgerpaw and Quickpaw exchanged annoyed glances, then hurried off to join the two.


	5. Chapter 3

**A/N: I'm booored. Since I read this cool book called 'Ratha's Creature', I decided to google it and see what I would find. Then I saw there was a cartoon of it on Youtube! Well, I watched it, but it was made in the 80's, so that kinda takes away its appeal... But that's okay. Even though the prehistoric cats looked more like weasels then the relatives of saber-tooth tigers. Eh. I still don't like flamers, but you better not hold that against me... Durr hurr hurr....**

**Disclaimer: Nope, all I own is what I own. That does not include Warriors. Ha. So there.**

**P.S. Pokemon sucks. (The cartoon version of it I mean. Ash is such a retard.) XP**

_**CHAPTER 3**_

A sunrise after the battle with DarkClan, Froststar, Quickpaw, and the other MoorClan warriors left for their camp. Badgerpaw and Quickpaw had exchanged awkward farewells.

A few sunrises after that, Badgerpaw was at the Fresh-Kill Pile, choosing between a plump water vole and a tasty-looking blackbird. "Hey, Badgerpaw!" Owlpaw padded over. Brightpaw, as always, shadowed him.

"Hi. What's up with you and Brightpaw?"

"Well, we're siblings, and our mentors are very close friends. Brightpaw's mentor is always teasing Frogpond."

At that, Brightpaw made a rather rude gesture and mewed, "They're always hitting it off on each other. They're, like, totally in love!"

Owlpaw rolled his eyes and whispered to Badgerpaw, "Brightpaw's been getting a little too obsessed with everybody's love affairs. Just this morning, before you woke up, she just walked up to Ashclaw, and started talking about how great Lightstep is. And, the worst part is, Ashclaw actually went over to talk with Lightstep after that!

"I'm starting to get a little worried about her obsession. She's interfering with every cat!"

Badgerpaw nodded, very concerned. "Yes, that does cause some worry. But I think it's best if we leave this alone for a while."

Owlpaw sighed, then nodded. "You're right…"

He left, leaving Badgerpaw with his thoughts. Just at that moment, Russetkit and Blizzardkit bounced out of the Nursery. "We're gonna be apprentices! We're gonna be apprentices!" they cried out excitedly.

"When?" Badgerpaw asked them.

"In a quarter moon!"

"Cool. You're going to be Russetpaw and Blizzardpaw," Badgerpaw grinned.

"Oh… uh, yeah!" Russetkit bounced on top of his sister.

"Hey!" She chomped down on his waving tail.

"_Mrrowch!_" Russetkit jerked his tail out of her grip, leaving a mouthful of orange tabby fur in Blizzardkit's mouth.

She spat it out, and tackled Russetkit.

"Quit it, you two. You're acting like kits, not apprentices," Badgerpaw mewed sternly.

The kits stopped play-fighting immediately.

"Yes, sir!"

"Roger that, sir!"

They scampered off to annoy some other cat passing by.

The masked apprentice rolled his eyes. "Kits."

Lightstep spotted him and padded over. "Hey. Grayfoot, Darkshadow, and I t going on a border patrol. Want to come?"

"Is Spottedpaw going, too?" Badgerpaw asked her. Spottedpaw is Grayfoot's apprentice.

"Of course."

"Okay, then," he mewed and followed her to the entrance.

He spotted Spottedpaw climbing down one of the oaks that were on either side of the bramble- covered camp entrance.

Brightpaw and Jollypaw were lazily pawing at a black beetle. "Where's Owlpaw?" Badgerpaw asked Brightpaw.

"Evening patrol," she hazily replied.

"Okay. Bye."

He padded past the two trees and followed Darkshadow, who appeared to be the leader of the patrol.

"What border will we be checking out, Darkshadow?" he asked the older warrior.

"We'll be 'checking out' the MoorClan border," he growled.

"Okay…" _When will he ever act friendly for once? _Badgerpaw thought_._

As they walked, Badgerpaw thought he heard a distinct rustling. "Hey, do you hear that?" he asked, stopping.

Darkshadow grunted, padding on. "Probably just a mouse." He dropped deftly into the hunter's crouch. He lifted his whiskers into the slight breeze. "Downwind, about… that way."

He crawled closer towards the rustling that was gradually getting louder. The patrol crawled after him just as silently. "This is much bigger than a mouse," Darkshadow whispered fearfully.

They crept closer.

The rustling got even louder and violent. Then it stopped.

A head poked out.

"Russetkit!" the five cats cried out in unison.

Another head poked out.

"Blizzardkit!" the five cats cried out in unison again.

"What are you doing here?" Spottedpaw growled at the two kits.

Blizzardkit swished her fluffy white tail. "We thought you would be honored to see us! We're going to be apprentices, you know."

"Well then, you thought wrong," Grayfoot helpfully put in.

Russetkit stamped down his tiny white paw. "Don't treat us like helpless kits! The reason we came here is so we can go on patrol!"

Grayfoot pretended to look like he had offended the tiny red kit. "Oh! Well, I'm so sorry, Russet_paw_," he meowed.

Darkshadow whipped his tail at Grayfoot's nose. "_Don't_ encourage them," he murmured. He looked back at the kits. "I'm taking you back to the Nursery. Come on."

"Nooo…" Blizzardkit whimpered, a pleading look on her face.

"Come on, Darkshadow," Lightstep splayed a paw. "They're obviously very good trackers to have followed us this far. Let them stay."

Darkshadow swept a sinister glance over the two kits, whose heads were bobbing eagerly up and down. "Please, let us stay!" Russetkit wailed.

"Oh, fine. But only if you keep your mouths shut," Darkshadow snapped at them.

Russetkit and Blizzardkit nodded, only just holding back squeals of happiness. Darkshadow plowed forward through the patrol, and headed onwards towards MoorClan territory.

When they reached the stream, Darkshadow turned his head and glared at the two kits tagging along. He sinisterly focused one eye on them. "Stay away from the stream, kits. You could fall in, and nobody would be here to save you."

The kits nodded, but went to the stream anyway. Darkshadow nodded to Spottedpaw, who monitored the kits as they bounced along the bank. "Now, everybody split up, and check for anything strange. Renew the scent marks. Do your business as a warrior of ForestClan. Now go," he ordered the three remaining cats.

Badgerpaw nodded, and went to check the scent markers closest to the stream. He padded near a rock that was more than two tail-lengths high, and three tail-lengths across. He renewed the scents and crept close to the Pebble Path that led across the stream. As for the stream, it was six tail-lengths across. That was pretty wide.

Badgerpaw gingerly padded across the sharp stones on the Path. He saw a flit of blue-green in the water. "Trout!!" he whispered, excitedly, and dabbed his paw in the water. The trout came closer and nibbled on his pads.

Quick as a flash, the apprentice's claws unsheathed, and hooked the trout. Almost expertly, he flung the fish at dry ground. Out of the water, it flopped around, gasping for breath. He pinned it in another flash of gray, and finished it off.

"That was quite a catch there, Badgerpaw," meowed a delicate voice.

Badgerpaw looked up. A familiar white head peeked from over the hill. _Quickpaw!_

Badgerpaw's eyes brightened when he saw her. "Thanks!" he meowed warmly.

Quickpaw lightly slid down the ridge of the hill and landed at the edge of the Pebble Path. Badgerpaw felt light-headed and his heart started pounding in his chest.

The beautiful cat of his dreams seemed to float across the Path, towards him.

"I know this is only the second time we met, but…" her voice trailed off. "I… I… lo-…" she stammered, then turned away.

"I… I feel the same for you," Badgerpaw tenderly mewed, using the tip of his tail to turn her head towards him. They locked eyes, and Badgerpaw looked deep into her green orbs. He saw a spark of… love.

"I should be going now," Quickpaw muttered, and quickly leaped up the steep hill. She didn't turn to look back.

"Good-bye!" Badgerpaw managed to choke out.

"_Hey!_ Get back over here! You're on MoorClan territory! What would you do if a patrol came along? They only just helped us in the DarkClan invasion!" a new voice called out.

Badgerpaw snapped out of his daze. Huh? What was he doing on MoorClan territory? He must have had crossed the Pebble Path while talking to Quickpaw. He turned around and saw Darkshadow glaring angrily at him from the ForestClan side of the stream.

"Uh, I'm coming!" he hesitantly called back, then turned to wistfully look at the spot where Quickpaw had vanished.

Scorning himself for breaking the Warrior Code, he forced himself to look away, and trudged back across the Pebble Path.

"What were you doing? Just standing there like that! A patrol could've come, and nobody would have been there to save you!" Darkshadow meowed, in hysterics.

"I-I couldn't help it!" Badgerpaw hissed back. "I was chasing a rabbit and it fled into MoorClan territory!"

"Well, good thing you didn't chase it beyond that hill! I had scented a patrol coming!"

The patrol of ForestClan cats were heading back to camp after quickly checking the MoorClan border.

Russetkit and Blizzardkit marched in front of the patrol, with Spottedpaw still monitoring them. "You don't have to watch us anymore, you know!" Blizzardkit haughtily hissed at her "captor", as she put it.

"Darkshadow's orders," Spottedpaw meowed, mimicking Blizzardkit's high-pitched voice.

"Quit it, apprentice," Darkshadow snarled, cuffing the spotted cat's ear.

Spottedpaw gave him a glare, but sighed in relief anyways. He then detached himself from the front ranks, and joined his mentor who was having a whispered conversation with Lightstep. Badgerpaw was in the back of the patrol, calmly enjoying the beautiful scenery.

It was almost Greenleaf, and the leaves on the trees were thriving. They were green and lush; the leaves had a nice oak-y smell. Badgerpaw closed his eyes and breathed in all the fresh scents. So soothing… So relaxing… He almost dozed off right on his paws.

Badgerpaw stumbled, jolting awake. "Oh!" he quietly exclaimed when he woke. He looked up at the sky, squinting at the bright sun. It was a little past sun-high. The day was passing so slowly…

_Pretty soon we're going to have longer hours of daylight, _he thought.

A fresh breeze stirred his fur; it was so calm, so peaceful. Jays were swooping, robins were chirping, and mice stirred in the tall windblown grass. This was the way all days should be.

When the patrol got back to camp, Ashclaw stepped up to them.

"Thank StarClan you're here!" he gasped, panting. "Foxpelt's been looking all over for Russetkit and Blizzardkit! She's been ordering me around all morning. I didn't even have any time to train with my apprentice."

"Well, we have the kits," Darkshadow growled, pushing Russetkit and Blizzardkit forward. "They just decided they would join our patrol."

"Well, I'm sure Tabbystar can find a fitting punishment for _you_," Ashclaw meowed sternly to the two kits.

Lightstep padded forward, a pleading look in her eyes. "Please, no, don't punish them. They tracked us nearly half-way to the border. It was good practice for them being apprentices, of that I'm sure."

Ashclaw looked thoughtful. "Well, I guess I'll point that out to Tabbystar." He turned away and padded to Tabbystar's den, with the kits bouncing close behind.

Badgerpaw separated himself from the group of cats, and padded over to the apprentices' den. He was looking for Owlpaw. His best friend was in his nest, sleeping. "Get up, lazy-bones." Badgerpaw prodded his neck.

Owlpaw muttered something and turned on his side. "Wake up!" Badgerpaw hissed into his ear.

"Yahooda-wah?" Owlpaw murmured, and waved his unsheathed claws in the air.

"Mrugh!! You hurt my nose!" Badgerpaw exclaimed, shaking away scarlet drops of blood. Badgerpaw suddenly had an idea. An evilly humorous idea.

He padded quietly from the den, and gathered Brightpaw, Jollypaw, and Spottedpaw around him. When he told them of his plan, they smirked in amusement.

Badgerpaw flicked his tail, and the four of them crept cautiously towards the apprentices' cave-den. "And where exactly do _you_ four think you're going to?" asked a coldly drawling voice.

Badgerpaw flicked his ears, signaling for his patrol to ignore Darkshadow. When they got inside, everybody took up their positions.

As one, the four of them drew in a gulp of air, and shouted loudly in unison, "_Wake up, Owlpaw_!"

The mottled-brown apprentice's head shot up in alarm, and he yowled, "AAGH-gatch-hoootcheeee! Intruders! Intruders in the camp!" He had gotten out of his nest and was tearing around in tight circles.

The four pranksters fell to the ground, laughing their heads off. They immediately retreated into the shadows of the den when they heard yowls of dismay from outside the den.

They heard Darkshadow snarling orders. "That lazy butt-bag is acting like he's the deputy around here," Spottedpaw whispered quietly to Badgerpaw.

The masked apprentice heard a hint of… resentment? Annoyance? In Spottedpaw's voice.

Badgerpaw murmured softly in agreement.

Lightstep padded into the roots of the cave-like den. "Where are they? The intruders?" Worry was shining in her eyes.

Owlpaw had calmed down enough to talk in a normal voice. "I don't know. I heard them yell something at me, then they just… disappeared…"

Brightpaw tried to stifle a hoot of laughter.

Owlpaw and Lightstep snapped their heads at the shadows, where Badgerpaw and his friends were hiding. "Or… I could be wrong…" Owlpaw mewed in horror.

Brightpaw looked guilty. She trembled, and turned to Badgerpaw. "I… I can't scare Owlpaw like this. We're… We're too close to each other," she whispered in his ear.

Badgerpaw nodded, understanding. "We go together," he quietly confirmed to Jollypaw and Spottedpaw. They were looking pretty sorry themselves.

The four of them stepped side-by-side into the light. Owlpaw gasped.

"You guys… how'd you…?" he whispered, looking dreadfully betrayed.

"We're very sorry," Brightpaw murmured, looking at her paws.

"As well you should be," growled a cross voice. A tabby head with white-tufted ears poked in. "You should be very ashamed of yourselves. You falsely set the intruder alarm, and pulled every cat out of their usual schedules, for nothing," Tabbystar meowed, more calmly this time.

"Well, we _are_ very sorry," Jollypaw pointed out, whipping her head up to keep the moss out of her eyes.

"'Sorry' catches no prey," Tabbystar stated. "You will have to be punished. You each have to do the elders' duties: Look for ticks, change the bedding, et cetera. Darkshadow here will watch you work. You will be pulled out of training for a quarter moon. No Gatherings for two moons and your warrior ceremonies will be delayed for an extra three moons. You'll start tomorrow."

"Seems a pretty good punishment to me, _apprentices_. Be glad it wasn't worse," snarled Darkshadow as he padded in to sit next to Tabbystar.

Owlpaw sulked, "I… I'd say it wasn't fair, but you… betrayed me…" He blinked and ran out of the den.

"Owlpaw, wait!" Badgerpaw and Brightpaw cried out in unison.

Spottedpaw watched his two Clanmates sympathetically. "I feel your grief. My brother betrayed me. I was heartbroken, and now… he's gone. I couldn't control his death… Just thinking about it makes me feel queasy. I'm going to go see the medicine cat. Good-bye."

He padded out of the den, with Brightpaw and Badgerpaw managing to choke out a 'good-bye' back to him. Jollypaw nodded sadly to them, and padded out too. Tabbystar and Darkshadow had already left.

Badgerpaw turned to Brightpaw. "Well, I guess we're in the same boat," he murured to her.

She nodded, blinking back tears. "I want to tell you something," she meowed unexpectedly. She moved closer to him until their fur was touching. "My mother told me, that when Owlpaw and I were born, StarClan told Thistleleaf of two prophecies. The first one was: "There will be a betrayal and an uncertain death; doom shall befall the Clan but a mighty warrior will arise from the ashes and put a stop to the reign of the foreign cat who claims what is not rightfully his. The great forest animals shall be the warrior's subjects, as he is the King among them." And the other one was something about a cat giving birth to already dead warriors, which I don't exactly… er… understand…. But I don't understand what the first one means. Can you try to figure it out?"

"Ah, not right now. We'll do that tomorrow," yawned Badgerpaw tiredly.

"_Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath the High-Branch for a Clan meeting!_" Tabbystar called from outside.

"Oh, StarClan. Now what does he want?" Badgerpaw growled good-naturedly.

Brightpaw stifled a giggle and followed her Clan-mate through the brambles.

The cats gathered in front of the tree that Tabbystar sat calmly by. "You are all here for two things," he coughed once all the Clan had assembled.

"One, is to hear the new deputy for ForestClan. Two, is to hear who will be going to the Gathering tonight."

Something in Badgerpaw's brain clicked. If he were allowed to go, this probably would have been his first Gathering. But, apparently, he would be missing this one and the next. He gave a deep growl of frustration. Brightpaw appeared to have had the same thought, and touched her muzzle to Badgerpaw's ear in sympathy. Her soothing touch had calmed him.

Tabbystar had leapt onto the High-Branch. "I say these words before the spirits of StarClan, so that they may hear and approve my choice. The new deputy will be…" he shifted his eyes to keep up the suspense. Badgerpaw cast a quick glance at Darkshadow. He was staring hungrily at the leader, as if he almost expected… something.

"…Creamtail."

Creamtail swelled with pride, as happy yowls met Tabbystar's humble words. Many cats padded over to congratulate the new deputy, chanting her name loudly. "Creamtail! Creamtail! Creamtail!"

Badgerpaw stared at Darkshadow who had been scowling angrily, but he quickly recovered, and mewed something to Creamtail, who cuffed his ears playfully. "You know, I have a very bad feeling about this," Badgerpaw muttered to Brightpaw.

"Why?" she asked him in bewilderment. "Aren't you happy that Creamtail is deputy?"

"No, no, not that. I am very happy for her… It's just that… well, you remember the elders' story about Cinderpelt getting killed, and then coming back to life in one of Sorreltail's kits?"

"Yes."

"Well, I have a feeling that… Tigerstar has been reborn in Darkshadow."


	6. Chapter 4

**A/N: I kinda like this chapter... Especially the extremely random song in the middle. X3 Ummm....... I have no idea what else to say... Lol! Oh yeah, I have a deviantart account: skypaw298. Check it out when you have the chance! I like my fans. And I don't like my flamers. Still. PEOPLE, PLEASE review! Readandreview readandreview readandreview RIGHT NOW. R&R R&R R&R AGGGHHHH**

**Disclaimer: R&R I still don't own Warriors please don't flame me PLEASE.**

_**CHAPTER 4**_

"What? How did you ever _get_ such a crazy idea?" Brightpaw squeaked. "Cinderpelt was reborn only because she was young, and had unfinished business… Do you think Tigerstar really _had_ wanted to take over ThunderClan? Besides, only StarClan can- He went to the _Dark Forest_-"

"Shush," Badgerpaw mewed, and flicked his tail at Tabbystar's perch.

"I want Darkshadow, Frogpond, Lightstep, Shadowtracker, Grayfoot, and Owlpaw to attend the Gathering. Meeting dismissed." Tabbystar leaped out of the tree and beckoned his warriors to him with a swish of his tail.

Badgerpaw noted that the leader of ForestClan hadn't included himself or any of the other apprentices. "What a pity we won't be going to the Gathering tonight," he muttered to Brightpaw.

"Mm-hmm," she agreed.

Badgerpaw turned just in time to watch Owlpaw, at the back of the small patrol, disappear through the gaping tunnel entrance. "Well, we should get going to bed, I guess," he murmured, watching as the darkness grew and grew.

"Sure," yawned Brightpaw sleepily, as they padded across the clearing.

"Wait, hold on, you go on back to the cave-den, I just remembered that I needed to… er… do something," he turned and padded to the medicine den.

When he entered through the small fern-sealed entrance, he was greeted by a warm smell hitting his nostrils. Spottedpaw was handing a juicy water vole over to Whistlepaw. "Thank you, Spottedpaw," Whistlepaw murmured to her Clan-mate.

Spottedpaw just nodded awkwardly, and padded past Badgerpaw into the fresh night air. Whistlepaw snatched up the vole, and entered a thin crack in a large boulder that was in the middle of the cave. "Here, Thistleleaf," he heard her mew. Then he heard a meow of thanks from the medicine cat herself.

When Whistlepaw exited the crack, she went to the other side of the boulder to sort herbs. Badgerpaw lingered around the edge of the small clearing, unsure whether he should be there or not. He had only been here once, and that was after the DarkClan invasion. Even then, though, he hadn't gotten a very good look around.

So he did look carefully. It was a nice peaceful little place. Behind him was the entrance, overhung with withered bramble branches, dead moss, and thriving lichen that waved in the slight breeze; it was covered so that no enemy cat could ever find the hidden entrance. The floor on his right side was covered in lush mossy nests for patients. On his left side was a round pool of fresh clean water. In the middle of the den stood the large gray-brown boulder with the slight crack in it. That was where Thistleleaf spent most of her time every night. Researching something, no doubt.

Whistlepaw was always so busy treating sick cats, sorting herbs, eating, she had no time for much else, not even a little fun.

The ceiling was made of twigs, lichen, moss, and leaves, all woven neatly together in a tight wall of nature. It was so expertly woven, that it made the den seem soothingly dark inside, even when it was glaringly bright outside. It was quite warm inside, too. The den was a good place to treat patients. It helps them to heal better; there was rarely any fuss in the medicine den.

Badgerpaw curiously followed Whistlepaw. He settled down on a mossy nest, and calmly watched her sort the herbs. After a few moments, Whistlepaw stopped sorting, stepped back, and admired her work.

"You're pretty good at that. Sorting herbs," Badgerpaw meowed to her rather loudly.

Whistlepaw nearly jumped out of her pelt at the sound of his voice. She turned around, fur bristling, her teeth bared menacingly. When she saw it was just him, she fully relaxed. "Oh, hey, Badgerpaw. You nearly scared me half-way to StarClan for a moment there!"

"I could tell," Badgerpaw purred in amusement.

"So, uh…" she shifted her eyes from side to side. "What brings you to the medicine den? Are you sick?"

"No, but, well, my den-mate Brightpaw, she told me about these two prophecies."

"Mm? Is that so?" Whistlepaw acted quite curious.

"Uh, yes." Badgerpaw told her all about the two prophecies, and his opinion on them. "I'm not so sure what the first prophecy means, but the second one makes no sense. I mean, how could a cat give birth to _dead_ warriors?? I mean, that'd be like giving birth to StarClanners or something… which makes no sense at all…"

"I'll try to find out more about it," Whistlepaw promised. "Now, get to bed, you need your strength for tomorrow if you are going to take care of the elders all day."

Badgerpaw sighed. _Does every cat know about my punishment? _he thought.

As if reading his mind, Whistlepaw moved closer and meowed, "Every cat knows about your punishment, Badgerpaw. This is a small neighborhood, so word gets around pretty quickly. Everyone knows."

"Everyone knows?" Badgerpaw echoed in horror.

"Everyone knows," she replied in a firm tone. "Now get on to bed already."

"Everyone knows!" Jollypaw yowled, and burst through the entrance.

"Everyone knows!" yowled every cat in camp.

Then they launched into song:

All:"Everyone knows,

That's the way it goes!"

Jollypaw: "You catch a mouse!"

Thumptail: "You catch a vole!"

All:"Everyone knows!"

Spottedpaw: "Everyone knows?"

All:"Yes, everyone knows!"

Yawnfoot: "If you run into a glade,

And a fox cuts you with a blade…"

All:"Everyone knows!"

Brightpaw: "Everyone knows?"

All:"Yes, everyone knows!"

Whistlepaw: (talking) "Oh, come on now, get to bed!"

Leopardstorm: (singing again) "I like Frogpond…

We have a very strong bond…"

All: "We know!"

Leoparddtorm: (flabbergasted) "You do?"

All:"Yes… everyone knows!"

All: (now doing slow dance) "We know… We kno-ow! We know… We kno-ow… _We know!"_

Ashclaw: (playing harmonica while dancing)

(long music break)

Thistleleaf: (coming out of den) "We all know! Yes, we do! We know the best of what's coming to you…"

Badgerpaw: "You do?"

All:"Yes, we do! Everyone knows!"

Badgerpaw: (breakdancing) "Except for meee!"

Brightpaw: (also breakdancing) "And meee, toooooooo!"

All:"Everyone knows!"

Whistlepaw: (talking) "Thistleleaf, get back to bed! Tabbystar may come back any moment now! Everybody! To bed!"

All:(still dancing) (starting to form big finale)

Badgerpaw: (strumming on imaginary guitar)

All:"Weee… knoooowwww!"

Tabbystar: (bursting through camp entrance) (talking) "Everybody quiet! An enemy cat could hear you from the other side of the lake! We could even hear you from the Stone Hollow!"

All:(quietly) "Everyone knows!" (break up, grumbling)

Badgerpaw got up, sensing that the song had come to an end. With a nudge from Whistlepaw, he got up, and exited the den. When he padded out, he was met by a beaming Brightpaw.

"That was really fun," she informed him.

"Yes, it was," Badgerpaw admitted. "I've never really done that before…"

"Well, neither have I, but does it even matter?"

He hesitated at the sarcastic tone in his friend's voice, but when he saw the mischievous glint in her eyes, he relaxed. "No. No, I don't think so."

"Anyways, I didn't know that Leopardstorm had a crush on Frogpond!"

"It's all over the news," Badgerpaw's ears and tail drooped, and he gave her a weird look. "Besides, you really do know, remember?"

Whisking around in front of him, and ignoring his question, Brightpaw drew herself up to the older apprentice, and glared at him levelly. "What's been up with you lately, Sir Sourpaws? Why are you drooping like a puddle of mouse-bile?"

Badgerpaw sighed deeply and fell to the ground. "Oh, I don't know… maybe it's because my former best friend is practically treating me like I'm a nobody!! Like… Like some tiny bug no cat can see! I mean, I feel some remorse for playing that trick, but I never really expected him to take it like that… Maybe a sullen glare or two, but never, you know, thoughts of us 'betraying' him! It was just a prank and nothing more, and now I've lost my best friend in the whole universe!"

Badgerpaw had expected Brightpaw to be sorry for him, and he did see a glimmer of sorrow in her eyes; however, she drew herself up so tall it looked like she were straining her leg muscles too much. She stared at him down the bridge of her nose and gave an impatient hiss:

"Does it not matter that Owlpaw is my brother? I feel the same as you, sure, but Owlpaw was friends with everyone! I don't think it matters if he thought _you_ were his best friend! He just knew you better and hung out with you more often! The reason I was hanging out with him so much was because I was jealous… Jealous of his bond with you! I've never had a best friend before. I didn't know what it was like, so I decided to see what the two of you did together, and…" Her eyes glistened with wetness. She hung her head dejectedly.

"Brightpaw," Badgerpaw murmured after several moments of silence. "I will show you friendship. We can be the best of friends. Our bond will be stronger than what Owlpaw and I ever had. We can become powerful."

"Really?" Brightpaw exclaimed in ecstasy, all misery gone. "Oh, thank you!" She licked his ear in gratitude.

"Let's not get too mushy here. It's a bit… embarrassing," Badgerpaw grumbled, flicking her away with a twitch of his other ear.

"Oh, s-sorry," she stammered, backing up.

"Anyways," Badgerpaw started sympathetically, "why don't we go get some sleep before the Gathering patrol comes back?"

"Sure, I-"

Just then, another rustle of the entrance bushes, and the tiny patrol of seven cats came streaming through. Owlpaw was right behind Tabbystar and he looked very proud of himself. He strutted over to Badgerpaw and Brightpaw with a superior air and laughed in their faces.

"What?" Badgerpaw mewed.

Owlpaw laughed harder.

"What?" Badgerpaw repeated.

Owlpaw fell to the ground, laughing his head off.

"What?" Brightpaw poked her brother's side.

He immediately stopped laughing. "Don't you prod me!" he hissed and stormed to the apprentices' den.

"What the heck was that for? I mean, he just laughed, for no reason at all! Why would he do that to his former best friend and his _sister_? It makes no sense at all!" Badgerpaw snarled.

Brightpaw agreed and replied, "He's probably still upset about what we did to him, but he's not sure how to go about communicating that to us. So he uses 'humiliation' as a 'cover-up'."

"How do you know that?" Badgerpaw asked her, baffled.

She shrugged. "Hey, we're siblings. I understand him, he understands me. We've been around each other long enough to know that."

"Oh."

"Well, let's go to bed, then."

"Sure, of course."

So, they went to the cave-den to find that Owlpaw, maniacally crazy in his sleep, had taken their bedding to use as his own. The extra moss smelled of Badgerpaw and Brightpaw, which made his nose twitch, but it was bearable enough to make his own nest more comfortable and fluffier.

"Ooh, that Owlpaw!" Badgerpaw hissed through gritted teeth. "Just let me at him, and I'll throttle-"

"No," Brightpaw held him back. "Just go get more moss and bring it back here so we can sleep."

"Fine," Badgerpaw growled. He shouldered his way back out, and nearly collided with Ashclaw.

The gray warrior eyed him, and nudged at him. "Come with me," he meowed.

"What? Where are we going? I still have to get moss for-"

"I'll take care of that. Leopardstorm! Moss, apprentices, now."

Leopardstorm looked up from sleeping in her nest. "Well, okay…?" she uncertainly mewed, and padded over to the medicine den.

Ashclaw gently pushed Badgerpaw out of the entrance and along a rarely-trod path. "Where are you taking me?" Badgerpaw whined, his voice shrilly with anxiety.

"Shush, you'll see," was his reply.

When the path ended, it opened out onto a sandy bank, with big flat rocks sticking out of a stream that ran by the clearing and into a nice big pool. The rocks were very tall so the stream running around them didn't run over the flat surfaces. Badgerpaw gasped; this looked like one of the places described from the famous leader Firestar's old home! He looked around. He saw Tabbystar, Creamtail, and Shadowtracker sitting on Coldheart, who looked calm and dejected. Frogpond was pacing in circles a few feet away. When he saw Ashclaw and Badgerpaw, he stopped, and meowed, "You're finally here! We've been waiting!"

"What?" Badgerpaw cocked his head in confusion.

Tabbystar spoke up. "Just this morning, as Frogpond over there," he pointed to the long-haired white and gray tom, "was taking a stroll to hunt, he stumbled across this remnant of Sunningrocks."

"Sunningrocks?!" Badgerpaw gasped. "Where the new Thunderpath was built? That… that place of legend?"

"Yes."

"But, how did it get here?"

"A long time ago, the Twolegs dropped this into the river that marked that marked the border between ThunderClan and RiverClan."

"You mean… ForestClan and StreamClan? Our territories don't border each other."

Tabbystar looked confused. "Yes, that's what I meant, and no, I do not think our territories border each other either. Anyways, the Twolegs probably used one of those big yellow monsters to scoop the Sunningrocks up and dumped it into the overflowing river."

"Wait, that river… this is the same river? Or stream, I suppose? It flows all the way over here?" Badgerpaw asked.

"Yes, indeed it is," Ashclaw murmured.

"So, what am I doing here?"

"Be quiet so Tabbystar can tell the rest of the story," Coldheart snarled, twisting his head to look up at Badgerpaw.

Creamtail raked her claws across his ear. "You be quiet too, then," she hissed.

Coldheart didn't reply.

Tabbystar shifted uncomfortably on top of his former deputy's back. "So, as I was saying," he grunted impatiently. "That river must have swept the Sunningrocks down here in this branch of the river-"

"_Branch_? The river doesn't flow directly here?" Coldheart interrupted.

Creamtail hissed again. "Want me to claw your other ear?"

Coldheart still didn't reply.

Tabbystar went on as if nothing had happened, "And then the Sunningrocks were wedged in place right here. I wonder if a stick or piece of driftwood is preventing them from flowing into the pool…"

"Are you done now?" Coldheart mocked.

"Well, why am _I_ here?" Badgerpaw asked Tabbystar again.

"You are here to witness the exile of your former deputy. You will also know who the new deputy will be before all the other cats in camp."

Badgerpaw was shocked. "Isn't that against the warrior code?"

"Does the warrior code _say_ anything about that?" Tabbystar challenged.

"Well, no, but I-"

"Case closed."

"Okay…" Badgerpaw was numb with exhaustion.

Tabbystar turned to Coldheart. "Your treachery in trying to kill your leader has marked you as an evil warrior who can no longer be a part of my Clan. I now pronounce you in exile. If any of my warriors find you on our territory after sun-high, then they have my permission to kill you."

"Good riddance," the exiled deputy growled, as Tabbystar, Creamtail, and Shadowtracker slid off his back. He turned to face the group of ForestClan cats. "I will be back," he hissed. "And none of you can stop me!" Then, he bounded off into the trees, tail lashing.

"Now that that is over, I shall now appoint the new deputy," Tabbystar meowed and leaped onto a tree-stump. "I say these words before Creamtail, that she may hear and approve my choice. Ashclaw will be the new deputy."

Ashclaw dipped his head. "I will do my best to serve my Clan well," he murmured.

"And I approve Tabbystar's choice," Creamtail meowed warmly.

"Ashclaw! Ashclaw!" the cats cheered.

"Ashclaw! Ash… claw…" Badgerpaw echoed, and passed out from exhaustion.

Creamtail turned to face her mate, Tabbystar, and mewed, "My, my, you are a bad leader, aren't you? You didn't even notice that Badgerpaw was bone-tired, did you?"

"Oops, my bad," he grinned sheepishly.

"Badgerpaw will be okay, Brightpaw. Go get some rest, you haven't slept all night!"

"But just until he wakes up? Plee-ase?"

"No. As your medicine cat, I order you to go and get some sleep. Whistlepaw will wake you at sun-high."

"But-"

"No buts, do it now."

"Okay, Thistleleaf, I'm going…"

"As well you better!"

Badgerpaw heard a distinct shuffling sound slowly getting softer as Brightpaw went to the apprentices' den. He opened his right eye just a centimeter wide. He saw the medicine cat treating a tick problem for Yawnfoot.

"Oh, hello there," mewed the old black tom, noticing that Badgerpaw had awoken. "You feeling okay there? You were all conked out earlier, I do hope you're alright?"

Badgerpaw opened both his eyes all the way. He got up and wobbled a little, but nevertheless, shook his pelt, sending dust flying. "Yes, I'm okay. My head hurts a bit, but I feel very rested."

Thistleleaf turned around. "Ah, you are awake," she purred, tail wrapped around her paws. "It's dawn right now, you've only slept a quarter of the day. Your friend, Brightpaw, has kept awake all night, striving to know if you would be alright. I just sent her off to bed only a few heartbeats ago."

"Yeah, I heard," Badgerpaw yawned.

"Oh, I'm not sure if you know, but Tabbystar, Creamtail, and Frogpond dragged you back here last night. Then, we had a meeting for the new deputy. Ashclaw is the new second-in-command now."

"Uh, okay."

Just then, Brightpaw charged in, tail twitching excitedly. "Good morning, Badgerpaw! Are you awake yet?! When I was leaving I heard your voice so I thought you were awake so I ran back here and now here we are talking to each other! Did you hear about Ashclaw???"

"Oh, yes I did."

"That is all very well, Brightpaw, but you should still go and get your rest though, okay?" Thistleleaf pointed out.

"'Kay. Badgerpaw, you coming, too? You still look pretty tired."

Badgerpaw looked to Thistleleaf for permission. "May I, Thistleleaf? I feel well enough to leave the den."

The brown tabby medicine cat smiled. "Yes, you may," she answered.

"Thank you," he squealed, dipping his head, and followed after Brightpaw, who had already skipped out the entrance.

"Hey, wait a second," meowed Brightpaw, once they were out in the open air. "I thought Creamtail was deputy, not Ashclaw."

"I guess Tabbystar decided to change," was Badgerpaw's reply.

"I'll go check with Creamtail anyways," Brightpaw meowed then stumbled off to find the cream-furred warrior.

Badgerpaw raced after her. "Brightpaw, I think I should go check. You need to get your rest, and I'll tell you her answer as soon as you get some sleep."

The pretty mottled-brown she-cat hesitated. "Well… I guess…" She then lumbered heavily to the apprentices' den under the roots of the big tree.

Badgerpaw watched her leave, and padded around the clearing to find Creamtail. He checked the warriors' den, but he found it empty. He checked Tabbystar's den; he and Creamtail were in there, sharing a large blackbird. "Tabbystar, may I come in?" Badgerpaw murmured.

Tabbystar nodded, and Badgerpaw stepped inside. "Yes, what is it, Badgerpaw?" Creamtail asked, twitching her tail.

"Well, uh, Brightpaw and I wanted to know…" He scuffed the ground nervously with his paw. "We wanted to know why Ashclaw was made deputy; we thought Creamtail was already deputy, so…"

Tabbystar winced. "Well, Creamtail is quite old, as am I. She wanted a slightly younger, slightly less-experienced warrior to take her place; it's not to endanger the Clan, I can tell you that. But, our son Ashclaw is a senior warrior, and he is very experienced. Creamtail was sure he would make a better deputy than she herself would. He has a lot more life to go, so Creamtail retired and became a regular warrior again."

"Oh, I guess I understand," Badgerpaw muttered.

"Will that be all?" Creamtail purred.

"Uh, yes."

"You may go, then," she replied.

Badgerpaw dipped his head in respect, and backed out through the lichen covering the den entrance to leave the two in privacy. As soon as he was out, he trotted back to the apprentices' den and went to his nest next to Owlpaw, who apparently was still asleep in his own nest. Badgerpaw curled up with his tail tucked over his nose, and immediately started to snore.

Owlpaw opened one eye, and upon seeing his former friend sleeping, snuffed in disgust, and snuggled closer into the moss. He fell asleep.


	7. Chapter 5

**A/N: This is the longest chapter so far... :D Also one of my favorites. This takes place 3 moons after the end of Chapter 4, by the way. Badgerpaw also goes to his first Gathering too! Yey, me!! :DDD**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors. Period.**

_**CHAPTER 5**_

__Badgerpaw smiled. A happy new Greenleaf day this was! The sun was rising, and the sky above glittered like dew, pink like cherry blossoms; no windblown puff-ball clouds were to be seen this morning. It was incredibly warm, even this early in the dawn. _It will turn about to be way hotter around sun-high_, Badgerpaw predicted. Casually sidling up to a patch of grass near the elders' den where Yawnfoot and Thumptail were still sleeping, he licked up a few dewdrops from the night before.

It had barely been three moons since Ashclaw had been made deputy, and Badgerpaw had passed out from exhaustion. He also remembered that his punishments were now over. Just a moon ago, he was able to go to Gatherings; it wasn't like he had been to any yet, though. And, if Tabbystar decided to make him a warrior right now, that could happen. He had also gotten stronger from training with Lightstep. He could hunt better too, and not like a lop-sided badger, which was still good progress. Although, he still had to master the bird crouch; he just couldn't get the jump right. Luckily, Lightstep was one of the most patient cats in the world.

"Badgerpaw!" His head turned and he saw Spottedpaw running over. "Badgerpaw, guess what?" The brown-flecked tom's green eyes were blazing with excitement.

"Yes?" Badgerpaw felt like Spottedpaw's excitement was contagious.

"Today is my warrior ceremony! During the moon-high patrol, I caught an owl, and my mentor said I was ready to become a warrior!"

Badgerpaw's paws pricked with unease. There was something he couldn't remember- what was it? Still, he forced away his discomfort, and tried to act pleased. "That's great! I hope you get to go to the Gathering tomorrow, too."

At that, Spottedpaw danced in happiness. "I know, I know, isn't it awesome?"

"Quiet!" Badgerpaw suddenly hissed at his friend. "It's good that you're so excited and happy and all, but you don't have to announce it to the entire Clan before they're even awake yet!"

Spottedpaw nodded, and lowered his voice to an excited murmur, "Sorry. I just can't help it."

Just then, Lilyflower came out of the Nursery. She saw Spottedpaw and padded over to him. "Hi," she mewed warmly.

"Hello, Lilyflower. Today's my warrior ceremony!" he happily chortled.

"That's very nice," she nuzzled his cheek. "I hope you get a good name."

Badgerpaw smiled again. He could tell that Lilyflower was Spottedpaw's mother. He also noticed that the sun was climbing higher into the sky. "Is your ceremony at sun-high?" he asked.

Spottedpaw turned from his mother and nodded, "Yes. I hope all the cats wake up soon."

As if answering his wish, Leopardstorm and Frogpond came out of the warriors' den, their fur ruffled. Brightpaw, Owlpaw, and Jollypaw came bounding out of the apprentices' den and over to the Fresh-Kill Pile. Lightstep, Creamtail, Tabbystar, and Ashclaw came back from the dawn patrol, and Badgerpaw could hear kits mewling in the Nursery. Thumptail and Yawnfoot limped out of the elders' den, blinking sleepily at the sun rising above. Whistlepaw crept out of the medicine den, got a mouse from the Fresh-Kill Pile, and crept back to the den. Heartbeats later, the camp became noisy from the conversations of cats, and from the munching of fresh-kill.

Tabbystar was talking with Creamtail and Ashclaw. The two nodded and ran off to the medicine den. After that, Tabbystar strolled to the High-Branch. He scrambled up the tree trunk and sat himself in the middle of the bough. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the High-Branch!" he yowled.

Almost instantaneously, cats looked up from what they were doing, and trotted to form a half-circle beneath Tabbystar. Spottedpaw bounded over excitedly with Lilyflower and Badgerpaw following. Spottedpaw padded to the middle of the half-circle, and Grayfoot proudly stepped forward.

"Spottedpaw," Tabbystar began. "Your training has now ended. It is time for you to become a warrior." He dipped his head and went on, "I, Tabbystar, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. He has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend him to you as a warrior in his turn." His head lifted and he stared at Spottedpaw. "Spottedpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do," Spottedpaw squeaked.

"Then by the powers of StarClan I give you your warrior name: Spottedpaw, from this moment you will be known as Spottedclaw. StarClan honors your cunning and skill, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ForestClan." Tabbystar stepped forward and rested his muzzle on top of Spottedclaw's head. He bent to give the leader's shoulder a respectful lick. Then the new warrior stepped back to join the crowd of ForestClanners.

The cats cheered for Spottedclaw, as it is in the traditions: "Spottedclaw! Spottedclaw! Spottedclaw!"

Spottedclaw puffed out his chest proudly, and swept his forest-green gaze across the crowd, searching for one cat in particular. Badgerpaw craned his neck to see in the instant the two pairs of eyes locked. He spotted a wisp of darkness that slowly faded away, but he saw that the eyes were icy blue.

"Brightpaw, you can go on a hunting patrol with Spottedclaw and Badgerpaw," Ashclaw ordered. Brightpaw nodded and bounded over to Badgerpaw, eyes shining.

Darkshadow slunk to the Fresh-Kill Pile, muttering darkly. Leopardstorm went to comfort him, while Frogpond's eyes glittered angrily; he looked about ready to explode.

Spottedclaw eyed Darkshadow and Leopardstorm as he padded over to the two apprentices. "What's up with them?" he asked Badgerpaw.

Badgerpaw shrugged. He didn't care much for other cats' love affairs, but he liked the couple Leopardstorm and Frogpond much better than Leopardstorm and Darkshadow.

It was the day after Spottedclaw's ceremony, and many things had happened since then. Leopardstorm became pregnant, so she and Frogpond got into a fight for some reason. Since Leopardstorm was a queen now, her apprentice, Brightpaw, had been assigned a new mentor: Shadowtracker. Brightpaw was Shadowtracker's second apprentice, since Lightstep was his first. Earlier that morning, Darkshadow had accidentally been knocked into a thorn bush, but he was pretending it was on purpose, since it was the doing of Frogpond. He had to go to the medicine den to get thorns pulled out of his pelt: 3 out of his back, 2 out of his right fore-paw, and 4 out of the base of his tail. The morning had definitely gotten off to a bad start.

Badgerpaw sighed. Even though the morning wasn't too pleasurable, he was quite sure that tonight would be. He was very excited, to tell the truth; he was going to his first Gathering! Spottedclaw swished his tail for him and Brightpaw to follow. They padded out the entrance of the camp, and into the fresh breezes of the forest.

Badgerpaw wondered how Quickpaw would react when she saw him again. Would she be there? He would find out, and he really hoped she wouldn't be. It would be awkward if they saw each other after 3 moons of being separated. He didn't want to hurt her feelings if she saw Brightpaw with him, especially since the two had become very close friends.

"Badgerpaw, quit dawdling," Spottedclaw ordered. He sounded like a senior warrior already, though he was only a moon and a half older than Badgerpaw.

"I'm coming," he snapped, irritated.

Brightpaw touched his shoulder with her tail-tip, soothing him. "Try to save your energy for the Gathering," she murmured into his ear. "Just be quiet."

Badgerpaw nodded to her, and Spottedclaw sent them in different directions to hunt. Badgerpaw was sent in the direction of the Birch Path, whereas Brightpaw was sent near the Abandoned Twoleg Nest. Spottedclaw announced that he would hunt at the Pebble Path. He told them to meet at the Training Hollow when the sun started to set. Then they would start back to the camp from there.

As Badgerpaw crept along the Birch Path, scenting for prey, he heard a faint rustle. He silently whipped around. A robin was tugging at a worm deep beneath the earth. He advanced on it, striped tail twitching. _This is easy prey_, he thought, smirking. When he came within a tail-length, he paused. The bird was still tugging at the worm. Suddenly, Badgerpaw leaped high over the bird to stop it from flying away, and landed awkwardly on top of the unsuspecting bit of prey; it didn't even flutter or squawk an alarm. He scraped black earth over his kill so he could get it later.

He crept on, and when he had reached the Sunningrocks he had caught two mice, a vole, a squirrel, and a starling. Badgerpaw felt proud of himself. When he padded into the clearing, he thought he saw a blue-ish shimmer like a cat, laying on a Sunningrock. As soon as he saw it, it turned its head. "Blizzard and russet are coming," it silently breathed.

"What? Who are you?" Badgerpaw asked it, confused.

"I am Moonwind." The shimmer suddenly turned into a blue-gray she-cat with warm forest-green eyes.

"Moonwind?" Badgerpaw echoed. "Blizzard and russet are- oh no, don't tell me you mean Russetpaw and Blizzardpaw? Those two are such trouble-makers!"

Moonwind nodded to his question. "Yes. And I am a Thund-"

Loud squeals and the pitter-pattering of tiny paws upon ground broke her off. Her gray eyes became wide.

Badgerpaw turned around as the two mischief-making apprentices burst through the bushes. "We found you!" they laughed, tumbling over onto Badgerpaw. He batted them both away and they squealed again.

Blizzardpaw and Russetpaw had become apprentices a quarter moon after Badgerpaw's punishment had been issued for falsely sounding the enemy alarm.

"Don't your mentors have something to do with you? Like, hunting or training your fighting skills?" Badgerpaw hissed furiously at them.

"Well, today is our hunting assessment," Russetpaw explained. "Foxpelt wanted me to hunt by the Training Hollow."

"Darkshadow too!" Blizzardpaw piped up happily. Darkshadow was her mentor.

"So, anyways," Russetpaw went on, with a quick glance at his sister, "we found your scent and decided to follow it!! So now here we are!! Yay, let's play!!"

Badgerpaw rolled his eyes. Then, he remembered Moonwind. But when he looked back at the Sunningrock she had been laying on, he saw only the last of a shimmer. Then even that disappeared altogether.

Badgerpaw glared angrily at the two siblings, who had rushed to the pond to chase frogs. "You better catch some of those frogs!" he yowled at them.

"We will!" Blizzardpaw pounced on a rather large bullfrog.

Badgerpaw rolled his eyes again, and went to collect his prey, then he returned to the Training Hollow.

When he got there, his jaws laden with prey, he put them in a pile. He saw that Owlpaw and Frogpond were there, practicing battle skills. Brightpaw was watching from the top of the shadowy ridge, softly cheering her brother on.

Badgerpaw skimmed the edge of the hollow over to Brightpaw. "Hi, how long have you been here for?"

"Not long at all!" she mewed, turning to look at him.

She turned back to watch Owlpaw in the hollow below her. He had just finished a great badger attack move on Frogpond, who looked very pleased. The gray-white tom stared up at Badgerpaw and Brightpaw. "Care to join us?" he called.

The two exchanged glances. "Of course!" Badgerpaw was the one to speak. They slid down the soft, yet steep side of the wide hollow. Owlpaw didn't meet Badgerpaw's eyes, he just ignored him. "What will you teach me now?" he meowed casually to Frogpond.

"Why don't you take a break? You've been working really hard, Owlpaw," Frogpond said without looking at him.

Owlpaw's eyes glittered with jealousy as his mentor taught the other two apprentices. Badgerpaw performed an outstanding 'high-jump-claw', and Brightpaw performed the most amazing backwards somersault, ending with claws raking the enemy's face. Soon after, when dusk had set, Spottedclaw arrived, panting. His jaws were laden with mice. All he had caught were mice in that long period of time. "All right, let's go!" he called when he put his mice down. He picked them up again, and watched as Brightpaw and Badgerpaw scrambled up the rocky ledges of the Training Hollow.

"We're coming back to camp with you," Frogpond calmly mewed. He helped Owlpaw up the ledges, and Bightpaw and Badgerpaw picked up their prey, and they went back to camp.

When they entered through the bramble-filled entrance, Leopardstorm shuffled up to them. "You're back! We've been waiting for you!" Careful to avoid Frogpond, she helped the hunting patrol put their prey in the Fresh-Kill Pile.

Badgerpaw and Brightpaw dipped their heads in thanks. Spottedclaw also did, but reluctantly, to accept another cat's help.

Tabbystar padded from his den and signaled with his tail for his warriors to come. Badgerpaw and Brightpaw stood side-by-side at the end of the patrol. They were going to the Gathering!

The only cats staying behind were: Jollypaw, Spottedclaw, Shadowtracker, and Lightstep. The queens, elders, and kits stayed behind as well. Badgerpaw could hear one of the kits, a cream-colored she-cat, complaining, "But, Mother, I wanna go to the Gathering too!"

"Not tonight," he heard the queen warmly purr. "Maybe when you're an apprentice you can, besides, you have just one more moon in the Nursery!"

"I guess I'll wait," the kit sighed, forlornly.

Badgerpaw's whiskers twitched with amusement. He remembered complaining just like that when he was 5 moons old. This was his chance, though. Finally!

Badgerpaw's paws itched to be leaving. Checking behind him, Tabbystar- at last!-gave the signal, and the patrol shot off like a rocket through the leafy camp entrance Badgerpaw could feel the fast-paced adrenaline surging through his veins. It felt as if only a few heartbeats or a hundred seasons passed before they reached the tree-bridge that led across the deep fresh water to the Stone-Hollow on the Island. They were dreadfully near the DarkClan border, but Badgerpaw was sure the birch-tree forest would protect them.

The moon was high in the sky by now, and he could hear a faint murmur. Cats? He could have been mistaken for hearing the slight sound of waves lapping on the sandy shore. When it was his turn, he climbed onto the large fallen tree. It was a little slippery, as the log was half-submerged in water. He almost slipped once or twice on the long journey from mainland to island. He didn't fall though, as Ashclaw steadied him from behind. Brightpaw had gone just before Badgerpaw, and she was now waiting for him by an apple tree. He jumped down from the log and onto the sandy bank littered with random tussocks of grass.

"Come on, Badgerpaw!" Brightpaw exclaimed, flicking his nose with her brown tail-tip.

Badgerpaw enthusiastically raced her through the apple orchard that surrounded the Stone Hollow. "Whee, isn't this so exciting!" Brightpaw gasped. "Our first Gathering!"

Badgerpaw nodded, and his ears could make out cats talking to each other from nearby. An impatient yowl sounded, and it appeared to echo loudly, making the insides of his ears ring. He padded along behind Ashclaw with Brightpaw shuddering with excitement by his side. They finally broke through the trees, and halted. The edge of a cliff lay right before him; if he had fell… well, he would have fell a long way down, enough to break his neck.

Badgerpaw edged forward cautiously and looked down into the Stone Hollow. Many cats from the other 3 Clans were impatiently twitching their tails, and a few glanced up at the moon anxiously. In the center of the Hollow, Badgerpaw could see a single gray stone standing all alone. The three Clan leaders: Froststar, Icestar, and Nightstar, were seated on the flat top. They were exchanging nervous glances, and were mewing to each other. Their deputies were on the ground, leaning against the rock, bored, or checking their claws to make sure they were sharp.

Badgerpaw recognized Molefoot, the MoorClan deputy, and he recognized Pineheart as well; his lip curled in disgust at the thought of her. The other deputy, supposedly of StreamClan, was a pretty silver tabby with a blank, yet mysterious expression on her face. He didn't recognize her.

Tabbystar waited until the last cat had gotten to the cliff, before signaling the patrol to go down. He leapt down the rocky ledges that led to the bottom. A cat yowled, "ForestClan has come!"

Angry and relieved voices shouted at the patrol, telling them off for being so late, because the moon had already started to set. The ForestClan cats obviously didn't take too well to all the noise. Badgerpaw laid his ears back, hoping to drown out the noise by humming incessantly. That annoyed Brightpaw a lot, so she smacked him on the nose with her paw.

Tabbystar bounded across the smooth rock floor, and cats parted to let him and his deputy through. When they reached the center, Tabbystar scrabbled up the high weathered rocky stone, and sat himself near the edge behind Nightstar, who flicked his tail at his nose. And Ashclaw seated himself with the other deputies, who either hissed with annoyance, or shared sympathizing words.

Badgerpaw reached the bottom of the Hollow and Brightpaw sat, washing her paws. "Hey, why don't we go see what those cats are talking about?" she meowed between licks, pointing to a group of snobby-looking StreamClan apprentices.

"I wouldn't go there if I were you," murmured a low voice, just behind them.

The two apprentices looked around in surprise. A dark gray tom was crouching with a slightly smaller version of him sitting at his side. "Those apprentices are very rude, and would take the skin off your back when you weren't looking, those foxdung-heads," he hissed.

The other cat, a she-cat by the looks of it, cuffed him on the ear. "You're just as bad as them if you go around swearing about the backstabbers!" she snarled.

"Sorry," the tom mewed helplessly, shrugging his shoulders. He flicked his tail at her and turned back to the two bewildered ForestClan apprentices. "Anyways, I haven't introduced you yet. My name is Pantherpaw, and this," he flicked his tail at her, "is my bossy know-it-all sister, Troutpaw."

"Nice to meet you," the lighter-gray she-cat meowed politely, her past menace gone.

Pantherpaw leaned forward and whispered, "She tortures me all the time like that. It's enough to make a guy sick!"

He was dragged back by his tail, and Troutpaw was on him mercilessly, cuffing his nose, his ears, his forehead, his tail even. "Erm," Badgerpaw mewed a little nervously. "Would you like our names though?"

Immediately Troutpaw stopped and turned to them. "Why, of course!" she purred, an innocent sweet look on her face. She smiled even wider, showing sharp white teeth.

"My name is Badgerpaw," he started, whiskers twitching with worry, "and she's my ma- I mean, _really_ good friend, Brightpaw," he finished quickly.

Troutpaw noticed the mistake, not to Badgerpaw's delight. "So…" She sidled up to him, a sly look glinting in her eyes. "You like this Brightpaw, don't you?" she whispered in his ear-fur, shifting her gaze to the mottled brown she-cat who had a curious probing look that seemed to want answers to what was going on between Badgerpaw and Troutpaw.

"Well, I- er, that is, um," he stammered, trying to back away. But Troutpaw matched him step for step, as he tried to get away from her.

"It's okay, just say so. I won't tell anyone, not even my brother. Your secret will be safe with me." A wink. Badgerpaw thought he was going to be sick.

Brightpaw noticed her friend going off-color. She knew that Troutpaw was up to something no good, and she felt a sudden boldness, stepping in between the two. "Hey, leave him alone, Troutpaw. Can't you see he doesn't want you prying into his business?" she meowed so loudly and suddenly, that cats from other Clan around them looked up in surprise. A few MoorClan apprentices giggled at the embarrassed Troutpaw who stepped away abruptly.

"Well, that is quite rude," she sniffed haughtily, giving Brightpaw a glare that told she really hated her for interrupting like that. If looks could kill, Badgerpaw was sure that Brightpaw would already be in her grave by now. Troutpaw turned back to her dazed brother. "Come on, let's leave," she nearly howled at him, trying to pick up the heavy Pantherpaw. He got up groggily and stared at her as she led them over to the StreamClan apprentices who were still snickering at the slightly embarrassed dark silver she-cat.

Badgerpaw turned to Brightpaw. "Well, thanks for saving me like that. It was really brave. I thought Troutpaw was really intimidating, and I couldn't think what she was going to try to do to me!"

"Oh, she was just flirting, I think," Brightpaw purred. "She was doing a rather bad job of it, though. But, I think she kinda wants you…" At that, her ears drooped a little; not even too noticeably from far away.

Badgerpaw was close to her. He noticed. "Hey, what's up?" he meowed, looking really concerned.

Brightpaw was surprised. Since when did Badgerpaw care so much? Maybe he really did like her. A lot. She had heard what Troutpaw was "whispering", anyways. She had been sitting too close to her friend to not hear what she had asked. "It's nothing. I, just, um-" At that, she was cut off by a yowl, "Let us gather here beneath the full moon commanded by the truce!"

Badgerpaw suddenly remembered something. His eyes searched the crowd of cats before him, and he sought out one cat in particular: Breezepaw. He found the black cat, and softly called out to him. "Breezepaw! Hey, come here!"

Breezepaw heard, and padded over. "Yeah?" he mewed, a lazy look in his eyes.

"Do you, um, know if Quickpaw came to the Gathering tonight?" Badgerpaw asked, eyes shifting nervously.

Breezepaw looked confused. "No… she had to stay back at camp, because she got a thorn in her paw. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, uh, just wondering. I was sorta hoping she wouldn't come," he meowed back.

"But, why?" the black apprentice pried.

"It's none of your business, Breezepaw!" Badgerpaw hissed in annoyance. "Thanks for telling me, anyways!"

"Well, you're welcome!" Breezepaw snarled. "I've never heard anyone say 'thank you' with so much venom!" At that, he turned and stalked back to his apprentice friends from DarkClan.

All through the short conversation, Icestar of StreamClan, and Froststar of MoorClan had reported. "What did they say, Brightpaw?" Badgerpaw asked her.

She turned her head. "Cheetahspots in StreamClan became a warrior, and Slackfoot died," she mewed dryly. "I'm sure if you hadn't been talking with that mouse-brain, Breezepaw, you would have heard."

"Well, I had to find out whether Quickpaw was here or not!" Badgerpaw mewed, unaccusingly.

"Well, excuse me!" Brightpaw rolled her eyes, but then she gave a mew of laughter and nudged her friend. "Hey, it's not like I'm mad at you or anything," she told the drooping Badgerpaw. "We should listen to the leaders anyways. It's only polite."

"Ah, you're right, I suppose," he muttered, still drooping. But, he still raised his eyes to watch the leaders give their reports.

Nightstar had nothing to report, and Tabbystar announced that Spottedclaw had become a new warrior. Almost every cat from every Clan watched him puff out his chest proudly, sweeping a hardened icy gaze across the cats' heads. He smiled a little.

Tabbystar stepped back, now that his turn was over, and so was the Gathering. Nightstar, Icestar, and Froststar flicked their tails to their own Clans: it was time to leave.

The cats of the different Clans gathered into their own Clans and streamed up the rocky ledges, disappearing into the apple orchard. Tabbystar flicked his tail to his own Clan as he jumped down, and ForestClan came together; they climbed back up the rocky ledges.

"Wasn't that… interesting?" Brightpaw commented to Badgerpaw, once they were walking through the orchard.

Badgerpaw nodded. "Yes, I agree. I don't think I'll ever go near Troutpaw again," he joked. "She's too dramatic for me, and I seriously wouldn't hesitate if I had to meet her in battle!"

"Yeah, same here. I had a feeling that that Troutpaw was bad news… and Pantherpaw looked pretty strong, I guess," she remarked.

"Probably from being hardened by Troutpaw's smacks!" Badgerpaw cracked another joke. This time Brightpaw smiled, and giggled a little.

_Hey, I made Brightpaw laugh!_ Badgerpaw thought in wonder. _Well, of course, I can make her laugh any time I'd want, but… _

By now they had made it to the log, and were now climbing over. Darkshadow- _that mean piece of fox-dung,_ Badgerpaw thought- was right behind them. He smirked. "You better stay loyal to your Clan if you keep on making new "friends" like that, Badgerpaw," he sneered. "Wouldn't want you to get mistaken for a MoorClan apprentice, since you're hanging around them so much."

Badgerpaw winced. "Friends"? Since when did he and Brightpaw become friends with Troutpaw and Pantherpaw, the two creeps?! He would rather die than become friends with them! Well, Pantherpaw: maybe, but Troutpaw… Just, no!

"We only talked to those two flea-bags for a few minutes!" Brightpaw defended her friend.

"Oh, I'm sorry, do you like to hang out with Pantherpaw? Rather cute, isn't he?" Darkshadow snarled at her.

"Darkshadow, Brightpaw, Badgerpaw, _move on! _" Ashclaw hissed. "ForestClan needs to go home. We're all tired."

The two apprentices flattened their ears to the sides of their heads. "We're sorry," they murmured, bowing their heads for a second, then bounding off across the log one after another. "See, you should be as quick as Badgerpaw and Brightpaw to obey orders from the deputy, Darkshadow," Badgerpaw heard Ashclaw sternly meow.

Darkshadow mewed something back in response, but Badgerpaw was now too far away to hear. Heartbeats later, he jumped to the soft, sandy ground again. Darkshadow had given up on arguing, so he was swiftly belly-crawling across the log. A moment later, he made it to the edge, and sneered at Badgerpaw as he jumped off.

_He's very rude_, Badgerpaw thought, wrinkling his nose in distaste.

As soon as the last cat had jumped down, Tabbystar flicked his tail for them to move on. Badgerpaw ran as fast as he could, trying to keep up with Leopardstorm, who was the fastest cat in the Clan. His tail streamed behind him, and Brightpaw caught up. She gave him a fleeting adoring look that Badgerpaw thought it was just his imagination. He looked away, gritting his teeth, and pushing his legs to go faster. His muscles were screaming at him to go slower, though.

No! Badgerpaw screamed back at them, and furiously worked them even harder.

"What's wrong?" Brightpaw gasped, trying to keep up with him.

"Tell… at camp," he panted.

"Oh. Uh, okay," Brightpaw nodded. "I-I understand."

When they reached the camp, the moon had already set, and dusk was dawning. "Oh, I'm exhausted," Badgerpaw whispered to Brightpaw.

She quietly nodded, her whiskers and ears quivering. Her tail dragged through the grass as she led the way to the apprentices' den.

Badgerpaw felt as tired as he ever could be. He just wanted to sleep for a moon or two. When they dragged themselves inside, Jollypaw instantly became alert. She sat up in her nest, whiskers twitching. "Tell me what happened!" she mewed excitedly.

"Too tired," Badgerpaw mewed in a hoarse tone of voice. "Maybe Owlpaw will."

"Okay." She got up, gave her paws a quick wash, and bounded out, calling for the mottled brown tom.

Badgerpaw scowled as he settled into his nest. He wished for some warm comfort right now, but Owlpaw still hadn't forgiven him yet, and there was an empty nest sitting on the opposite side of him. As he drifted in and out of slumber, he thought he could feel the soft soothing fur of Brightpaw in the empty nest.

Badgerpaw blinked open his eyes. He was in a mysterious foggy forest. All around him was some sort of thick mist; tiny drops of dew clung to his fur and weighed his pelt down with water. He could barely see a mouse-length in front of his nose. Suddenly, he thought he could see a shimmer of light shaped like a cat a fox-length ahead. The cat's tail flicked, beckoning him forward.

He stepped a few feet, but he couldn't get any closer. "Moonwind?" he called. He recognized the bulky shimmer of light, but was this really Moonwind? He remembered from the day before that Moonwind's shimmer was light blue-gray… No, this shimmer was black.

The cat's tail flicked one more time, then it turned around and bounded away. "Wait! Come back!" Badgerpaw yowled. He ran, trying to catch up with it. He followed its sparkling scent; he was surprised the cold glitters even had one.

Soon, the fog started to clear away, and now there was just a spooky green haze. Badgerpaw's paws pricked with unease, but he gulped it down, and forced his feet to move the right way. When the cat-shimmer finally stopped, he could see that the trees here were more spread apart. He looked for the shimmer: it was sitting beside a black pool of water. He padded over to sit beside it. Surprisingly, it felt warm, and the shimmer turned into a real cat, with flesh and fur.

The cat was a long-haired black tom, with dazzling amber eyes. "Who are you?" Badgerpaw asked him.

The cat stared at him with large, sad eyes. "I am Tanglefur," he replied.

"Tanglefur? Do you know a she-cat called Moonwind?" Badgerpaw asked, choosing his words carefully.

"Yes, I am her brother," Tanglefur mewed. "Now, look at the water below us. What do you see?"

Badgerpaw looked down. He gasped in surprise. "Why, it- it has gone up a mouse-length since I sat here!"

"Exactly. What do you think that means, if it does mean anything?"

"Water…going up- it's going to flood?" Badgerpaw gasped in horror. "But, but it's already Greenleaf! How could this-"

"Look closer," Tanglefur urged.

Badgerpaw did. He saw a piece of Twoleg rubbish floating on the pool's surface. Ah, now he understood. The streams were going to flood, but it would be the doings of Twolegs.

As if reading Badgerpaw's thoughts, Tanglefur mewed, "Yes, the fault is of Twolegs. I've given you this bit of information, now you may leave." Then, just as suddenly, the warm furry pelt became cold glittering shimmers, and then it vanished altogether.

Soon, he could hear a faint calling. "Badgerpaw! Badgerpaw, wake up!" somebody shook him. He jolted awake.

"What?" he meowed sleepily.

Brightpaw was crouched over him. "You were muttering something about Twoleg rubbish and floods in your sleep." Her brilliant hazel eyes glittered with worry. "Is everything okay?"

Badgerpaw got up and sat, crouching. "Yes, I mean, no. Everything is not okay."

"Was it from last night-" Brightpaw was broken off by Badgerpaw.

"Come on, we must tell Tabbystar!" He rushed past Owlpaw's nest, where the brown apprentice was still sleeping.

They burst out of the small tree-cave and into the sunlight. It was a bit past sun-high. Ashclaw was busy in the middle of the clearing organizing patrols for the next day, while Frogpond, Darkshadow, and Shadowtracker came back from the sun-high patrol. Jollypaw looked up from the Fresh-Kill Pile. "Hey, what's up?" she meowed, picking out a plump chaffinch.

"Something," Badgerpaw replied, looking around frantically.

"Yeah, Badgerpaw, what _is_ up?" Bri_g_htpaw meowed suspiciously.

"You'll find out."

The two scrambled up the tree with Tabbystar's den. Badgerpaw hauled himself onto the High Branch, and shuffled over to the entrance. He called out a greeting, and heard Tabbystar say, "Come in, come in."

Badgerpaw beckoned to Brightpaw with his tail. They padded through the lichen, Brightpaw still looking suspicious, and came face-to-face with Tabbystar. He was picking at a thrush. "Yes? What is it?" he asked, slightly annoyed.

Badgerpaw nervously washed his paws. "Well," he said between licks. "I had a dream. The streams are going to flood. We must do something!"

"Hold on, hold on," Tabbystar calmly mewed. "How do you know this?"

"Well, a cat came to me, and told me that the streams would flood." It wasn't exactly a lie, but he felt he shouldn't give Moonwind and Tanglefur's names away.

"I believe him," Brightpaw chipped in. "I heard him talking about floods in his sleep."

Tabbystar acted like he hadn't heard her. "Hmm… What did the cat look like?" he asked.

"Erm, well…" He didn't like lying to his leader, but he had to. For the cat-shimmers' sakes. "The cat had ginger-colored fur and green eyes."

"Ah… I see now. Did you catch the cat's name? Was it a she-cat or a _tom?_

Badgerpaw felt uneasy at his leader's such intense interest. He would just say the opposite of what he knew. "It was a she-cat, and her name was… was…"

"Well?" Tabbystar crossed his paws, and leaned forward, amber eyes shining unnaturally.

"Well, her name was, eh, Rockheart?"

Tabbystar closed his eyes; it was as if his interest had just been, well, imagined. The scent of disappointment reached Badgerpaw's scent glands. He and Brightpaw exchanged confused glances.

"Very well then, you are dismissed," the ForestClan leader sighed. His disappointment was as clear as the sunny Greenleaf day outside.

As Badgerpaw and Brightpaw turned to leave, Darkshadow burst in, his fur bristling in fear. "Tabbystar! Tabbystar!" he yowled.

Tabbystar instantly became alert again, ears pricked forward, tail twitching in surprise. "What is it? I'm listening!"

Badgerpaw and Brightpaw watched as Darkshadow reported that the sun-high patrol had been to the MoorClan border, and the stream was a fox-length higher than it normally was! He also fearfully reported that they saw a bunch of huge Twoleg monsters digging up the sides of the banks and throwing the dirt into the water, and the water was turning black. There were bits of Twoleg rubbish floating around.

_Now do you believe me?! _Badgerpaw wanted to yowl at Tabbystar, but he held his tongue. Tabbystar looked at Badgerpaw. "Well then, how did _you_ know that the streams were going to flood?" he asked again, suddenly as interested as before.

"I already told you," he gulped. "Rockheart told me, remember?"

"Ah, Rockheart. Yes. Yes, I do remember, Badgerpaw. Thank you for reminding me." He nodded in dismissal.

The two apprentices backed out of the den, and when they reached the ground, Brightpaw turned to Badgerpaw. "Why did Tabbystar show so much interest in _who_ it was that told you about the streams?" she asked him.

Badgerpaw shrugged, his gray tail flicking. It chilled his fur when he remembered Tabbystar gazing at him as intently as if he were catching a robin. If Badgerpaw was right, there was some kind of mystery to all this, and he was going to solve it.


	8. Chapter 6

**A/N: Well, here's Chapter Six, the BONUS chapter! :D Yeah, it's where we look through the eyes of a different cat. Whoo-hoo. Tabbystar used to be my most favorite character, and he was my oc even before I started to write this book! So, yeah. Tabbystar has a secret! Can you guess what it is? Anyways, I've had about... hmmm, well, one reviewer since I started to submit chapters again. Well, one is better than none, right? ^^ And I reviewed for her story too, so it's all good! Hee hee. Thanks, Kaida Thorn! Oh, and don't worry, Owlpaw and Badgerpaw will become friends again. All in good time. Oh, yeah, and flamers, STAY AWAY. Rawr!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Warriors. Phear me, imma liger! RAWRRR**

**BONUS CHAPTER:**

_**CHAPTER 6**_

It was almost sun-high the next day. Tabbystar looked up. He could feel a slight breeze stirring his foreign timber-colored fur. His bright amber eyes were shining with the memories from his kithood. The memories now took him to when he lived in the mountains. He remembered when he was just a 3-moon old kit, he would sneak out of the den, and climb up a ledge, letting the wind blow ancient sands through his fur, twining within him with the pawprints of his ancestors. He had felt just as he did now.

A padding of paws sounded from behind him. Tabbystar turned around. It was Badgerpaw. He had his suspicions about Badgerpaw. Badgerpaw was a good, loyal, and very brave cat. Tabbystar had suspected something going on between him and another Clan apprentice. That Clan apprentice, as he had suspected, was Quickpaw of MoorClan.

The brown fuzzy leader wasn't a mountain cat for nothing. His hearing was much better than that of a normal Clan cat's. The other night, at the Gathering, he had focused his spectacular ears on Badgerpaw's conversation with Breezepaw. He had asked if Quickpaw had come to the Gathering. But, when Breezepaw had replied that she hadn't, Badgerpaw had looked- how should he say it?- either relieved, or rather, disappointed.

He had thought Badgerpaw had looked relieved, but why? Badgerpaw liked Quickpaw, right? Why didn't he _act_ like it, then?

"Tabbystar?" Badgerpaw murmured when the padding stopped.

"Yes?" he asked, tail over paws in a sitting position. This cat was part of two prophecies; he should be treated with respect, right? There was no more room for doubt.

Badgerpaw was sitting, his claws scratching at the ground. They were near the Elders' Den, a perfect place for resting in peace. "May I… become a warrior soon? Lightstep said I was just about as good as one this morning. She told me to talk to you about it, because she had to take Russetpaw and Blizzardpaw out."

_What?_ Tabbystar thought desperately. _No, I cannot trust him! StarClan! Please tell me what I should say! Make this decision for me, I cannot do it alone!_

Suddenly, it felt like time had slowed down. But before the whole world paused altogether, Tabbystar said one thing, "Never," in such an inaudible voice that Badgerpaw couldn't understand. Then, a heartbeat later, nothing was moving, not even Badgerpaw. It was as if everything had died, but stayed frozen to their spots, never to fall to the ground. A roaring filled Tabbystar's ears; something hard slammed into his side. He blacked out.

* * *

Tabbystar's eyes slowly flickered open. All he could see was darkness, and no light. Complete utter blackness. He got up, and his head was whirring around, trying to make sense of where he was. Suddenly, he saw a faint shimmering flicker. It was a blue-gray cat-shimmer. Laser green eyes were lazily sparkling, warm and comforting to the cold dark. Tabbystar blinked; the cat was gone. Had he merely just imagined it?

Surprised, the tabby tom stumbled forward. "Easy," breathed a deep voice, steadying his confused thoughts. Adderfang?

"Adderfang, help him! Hurry, before he goes blind!" another higher-pitched voice hissed. It sounded like a she-cat's.

Tabbystar was confused now as ever. Before he goes blind? _Was_ he going blind? Was that why he could see only darkness? And Adderfang was here? Where was he, anyways?

"Sshh, not so many questions," Adderfang whispered, letting Tabbystar lean against his side. "We'll answer one at a time."

"What am I doing here? Where am I?" Tabbystar rasped, suddenly feeling a hundred seasons older.

"Adderfang, just help him! No questions! You can talk later, help now!" the she-cat hissed again, more desperately this time.

"Okay, okay! I'm helping, see!" Adderfang snarled back. Tabbystar could faintly sense annoyance in the warrior's mind.

Wait a second, that wasn't right! In his _mind?_ How could that happen??

"It's okay, it's okay," Adderfang murmured. "Clear your mind, Tabbystar. Unclutter your thoughts. Your mind must be blank."

Tabbystar obeyed the dead warrior. As soon as his thoughts were free, he felt a curious tapping. It was first slow, in a steady pattern: tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap… It gradually became faster, and Tabbystar still kept his mind blank. Then the pattern became unsteadier as the tapping got faster. It was just as if the tapping had been a curious kitten, slowly becoming more and more excited. The pattern soon wasn't a pattern at all: taptap taptaptap tap tap taptap taptaptaptap tap. The fastest it had gotten was: tuptuptuptuptuptuptuptuptuptuptuptuptuptuptuptuptuptuptuptuptup.

All of a sudden, the tapping stopped.

"Open your eyes," Adderfang gently urged.

Tabbystar realized that his eyes had been tightly shut through the tapping. He obeyed, and thankfully he could see at last!

But it was blurry.

"Can you see well?" the she-cat asked, taking a step closer. Tabbystar could sense quiet anxiety lurking in her mind. It was so faint, that Tabbystar thought he had imagined it. He could at least see the brown tabby fur on her pelt.

He narrowed his eyes. "I can see you." He turned to Adderfang. "And I can see your flaming orange pelt, too."

The she-cat was pleased and relieved, Tabbystar could tell.

"But," he continued. The she she-cat leaned forward, sudden anxiety bristling from her fur. "That is all I can see. No details. Just blobs of color."

Suddenly, rage flared in Tabbystar's mind. The she-cat had jumped up in fury. _Angry at Adderfang?_ he thought. _But why?_

"I told you to help him, Adderfang!" she hollered. "And you didn't listen! You didn't save his eyesight either! You big useless lump of a cat! Mother was right when she said you were a slacker!"

"Calm down, Snowstorm!" Adderfang angrily snapped back. He sounded more frantic than angry, though.

"No, I will not calm down!" she hissed. "Stop your _laughing,_ Tabbystar! This is not over yet!"

Tabbystar looked at his paws in confusion, his mind still blank, as the brown she-cat stormed out of his short vision.

Adderfang turned to his leader, his anger slowly fading away. "Time for questions," he grunted.

"Where am I, and what am I doing here?" Tabbystar repeated little by little.

"Okay, first off you are in StarClan, and-"

Tabbystar flinched. "I'm dead?!" he howled. "But I still have 3 lives! I'm not ready yet! TAKE ME BAAACK!"

"No, no! You're not dead, you're not dead," Adderfang mewed, panicking. "Not even close. Well, kinda. You lost your 7th life when that thing hit you, so now you have 2 lives left."

"What am I doing here then?" Tabbystar meowed loudly, scrabbling to get away. "I've been away from my Clan for too long! TAKE. ME. BACK. NOOOOWWWWW."

"No, not yet."

"What do you mean 'not yet'!!!" he hissed. "I am you're leader, and I _order_ you to take me back now!"

Adderfang winced. "I'm really sorry, Tabbystar. But don't you want to know what it was that killed you?"

_Of course I do!_ "Okay," he replied, a little hesitantly.

"Well, it was a-"

Tabbystar woke up, disappointed that he didn't find out what the creature was. He had lost a life, anyhow, so what did he expect? To stay in the clouds for eternity? No, he had a Clan to lead, that's what. He saw only darkness now; his mind had become dank and cluttered once more. Lifting his head, Tabbystar could faintly sense fear and annoyance from above. Adderfang still? A new thought pierced its way into his mind. It was a cat's voice, but it wasn't his. He immediately recognized it as the ginger warrior's.

He was saying, "Oh, fox-dung! I couldn't tell Tabbystar what that- that awful thing was. I suppose I will just have to do that tonight, in his dream…"

Tabbystar shifted uneasily. When he scented the air, he realized he was in the medicine den back at the ForestClan camp. He was lying in a soft mossy nest. "Tabbystar, are you okay?" It was Badgerpaw, again. "That thing must have you real bad."

"Yes, I am fine. How long have I been out for?" he mewed.

"Oh, half a quarter moon, I think. You've been muttering and thrashing around in your sleep. Did you lose a life? Did you see StarClan?"

Tabbystar turned his head in Badgerpaw's direction. "Yes, I lost a life. I had also seen StarClan." Excitement was rippling off Badgerpaw's pelt in waves.

"What did they say?" he inquired.

Tabbystar's paws pricked with unease. He wasn't sure if he should be answering that question…

"Badgerpaw, leave my patient alone. Go somewhere else, and do whatever it is you warrior apprentices do," Tabbystar heard his medicine cat snap.

"Okay." Badgerpaw padded out of the medicine den.

"Now hold on Tabbystar, I have to redress your wound," Thistleleaf murmured. She bit off the wrapping on his hind leg, and bound another poultice over it. When she was done, she lay by Tabbystar's side. "Now, you do know that you are permanently blind?"

He nodded.

"I'm so sorry, Tabbystar. I tried to save your eye sight, but I was too late."

"That's okay, Thistleleaf," Tabbystar meowed. "You did your best, and that's all that matters. I'm very grateful that you are dressing my wounds, though. Did you see what had killed and blinded me?"

Thistleleaf nodded; Tabbystar could sense the quick swishing movement, though he couldn't see it. "It was a rather large golden eagle. I don't know what an eagle has been doing out here, what with all these cats around, but it must have been nothing good."

Tabbystar flinched; he had remembered something! "So this is StarClan's way of punishing me," he muttered. "I should have listened to Badgerpaw that day. He said that the streams were going to flood, but I was only focused on _who_ had told him. Darkshadow had also said that the streams were flooding, but I only listened to the older, more experienced cat, by whom had more reasoning other than being told by a cat named Rockheart. There will no more room for doubt about this Badgerpaw. From now on, I will fully trust him, even if he has a formed relationship with a she-cat from another Clan!"

Thistleleaf became more interested. "So, you say the streams are going to flood?" She sounded thoughtful.

Then Ashclaw bounded in. "Hello, Tabbystar," he meowed. "Feeling better, I hope?"

He nodded. Ashclaw continued, "I'm really sorry about your eyesight. What will we do, now that you've gone blind?"

"I don't know; maybe I'll just retire, and paw the job over to you. You're experienced enough. Besides, you'll have your deputy to help you."

Ashclaw felt worried. "Oh no, I couldn't possibly be ready for that, yet. Imagine going to a Gathering, and accidentally saying something wrong in front of all the Clans!" the gray warrior scorned. "No, no, that isn't possible."

"Oh, but it is. You'll see. We will have the ceremony in a few days, as soon as I can walk again-" at that he lifted the leg with the poultice, and gave it a sniff- "and then the next night you can go to the Mooncave for your leader ceremony. All right?"

"Well, okay… I guess so." Ashclaw's ears and tails drooped, and he sneezed. "And, one more thing: The dawn patrol went to the DarkClan border this morning. The stream there has flooded. The water's gone all the way up to the birch tree forest, and on the other side, it's gotten far over the flat, marshy land."

"Oh, sweet mother of-!" Tabbystar growled, slamming his right front paw down, and startling his son. "Gah! Tell these orders to the rest of ForestClan: every kit or apprentice going out must be accompanied by at least one warrior, and no cat leaves the camp after moon-high or before dawn."

"Yes, Tabbystar, but what about the moon-high and dawn patrols?" Ashclaw asked.

"Just cancel them, alright?"

"Very well," he dipped his head, and backed out of the den.

As Thistleleaf got up to sort herbs, Tabbystar stretched out his arms, resting his head between his paws. _Oh StarClan,_ he started to pray,_ please let me turn a ripe old age as an elder. This Clan needs my guidance…_ After that, he fell into an uneasy, dreamless sleep.


	9. Chapter 7

**A/N: Okay, one thing to know... uh. I forget what I was gonna say. XD But yeah. Sorry if I'm going so fast with this. I already have it all typed out... eh.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Warriors, then would I be sitting here? No! I would be at my desk-thinger, writing the next Warriors book! Wouldn't I? I think I'm good enough to write for the Warriors series, don't you agree? ^^**

_**CHAPTER 7**_

"Hey, pass it over here!"

"No way, you're not on my team!"

Badgerpaw was watching Blizzardpaw, Russetpaw, Brightpaw, and Jollypaw play with a moss ball. He and Spottedclaw were the referees. He had listened to Thistleleaf and had gone off to do whatever warrior apprentices do. And he was doing something.

"Point 5 for Blizzardpaw and Russetpaw!" Spottedclaw yowled.

They were in the Training Hollow, and Badgerpaw and Spottedclaw were sitting on the ridge, with the two teams down on the soft and sandy floor.

Brightpaw wrestled the ball from Russetpaw, and batted it at the goal: two gray rocks. The other goal was the same: two gray rocks. "Point 6 for Brightpaw and Jollypaw!" Badgerpaw yowled as the ball rolled between the rocks.

"Yeah!" the two old apprentices slapped tails with each other.

"Great job!" Badgerpaw called down.

"Hey!" Spottedclaw snarled from the other side of the ridge. "You're not supposed to choose sides!"

"I'm not choosing sides!" Badgerpaw snarled back. "I'm just telling them they did good!"

Spottedclaw glared at him, and turned back to the game. "Come on, get the moss ball, Blizzardpaw! Don't be afraid of it if it falls near your head! It's not that heavy!"

Blizzardpaw took his advice, and as Russetpaw tossed it to her, she leaped, catching it on the fly. "Well done!" Badgerpaw called out, half-heartedly.

Spottedclaw gave him a satisfied look, also edged with triumph. Blizzardpaw flung the ball from her teeth, flicking her head. It soared through the air, landing just a mouse-length behind Jollypaw and Brightpaw's goal. She scored her team a point.

"Yeah!" Russetpaw squeaked like a four-moon old kit. Blizzardpaw squealed back, and they started tackling each other as if they had never been made apprentices. This cost them a whole two points, as Brightpaw's team scored while they were play-fighting. Now it was Badgerpaw's turn to gaze triumphantly at the flecked warrior on the other side of the ridge. Spottedclaw was staring down at his paws, humiliated.

Brightpaw tossed the ball to Jollypaw, who batted at it, aiming for Russetpaw's head. It hit the mark, and he fell to the ground with an "Oomph!" Quickly he got up, then lunged at the moss-covered she-cat.

He caught her, and Jollypaw yowled in mock fear; Russetpaw flipped her over him, and pummeled her belly with his hindpaws. His claws were sheathed, of course, since he would never harm another Clan-mate on purpose.

Spottedclaw and Badgerpaw leaped straight down into the hollow, at the same time. Badgerpaw got to the fight first. He pulled the two apart and batted Russetpaw away. But the ginger apprentice bounded again to try a tackle at Badgerpaw. The older apprentice saw it coming, and skillfully did a flip over Russetpaw's head. Then he lashed out, catching him on his belly, and flung him into a mound of sand. Russetpaw immediately got up again, and whisked himself over to Badgerpaw. Badgerpaw dropped into a defensive position, but Russetpaw no longer showed any signs of blank and mindless aggression. He plopped his bottom next to him, and excitedly meowed, "You were so cool! Can you teach me all those cool moves, please? You nearly winded me, and that was sooo cool!!!!"

Badgerpaw's ears twitched. That was a surprise. Him being the more experienced and therefore stronger apprentice, he should have been able to defeat the young orange cat easily without a second glance. But, he shrugged, the little tom had very good endurance and was able to move swiftly, just like his mother. Russetpaw had also learned from Foxpelt how to be stealthy. In fact, he was the stealthiest cat in the Clan, though he didn't show it that much, and he was only a three-moon old apprentice. He was sure to become even stealthier as a full-grown warrior, Badgerpaw was quite sure of that.

"Please, can you teach me? I promise I'll work very hard, and I'll never complain, and- and- and I'll do everything you tell me to." Russetpaw gave Badgerpaw such a look with large sweet eyes, and twitching little button nose; the masked apprentice just had to give in!

"Well, okay, but-" Badgerpaw didn't finish for again Russetpaw squealed like a newborm kit and flung himself upon Badgerpaw, licking his face with genuine gratitude, all the while mewing 'thank you' over and over and over and over again.

This Badgerpaw had to endure with a brave face. Brightpaw and the others laughed so hard, that Jollypaw swooned and Spottedclaw had to catch her before she fell on her back. Badgerpaw was extremely humiliated.

A few heartbeats later, Blizzardpaw promptly dragged her brother off of the older apprentice. "Oh, thanks, Blizzardpaw," he meowed gratefully.

"It's nothing," she replied, then quietly scolded her older brother, whose eyes still with kit-like gratitude.

Spottedclaw set Jollypaw on the ground, who immediately woke up. "Um, do you mind?" she hissed. "I was just sleeping!"

"Sorry," Spottedclaw shrugged. He looked up at the sun, kneading the ground impatiently. It was almost sun-high. "Erm, I should go now; I promised someone I'd, er, meet them somewhere. I may be back soon." He stumbled away and disappeared into the bushes.

"What's the matter with him? He's not usually like that," Jollypaw mewed, tipping her head to one side in a confused manner.

"Let's go look!" Blizzardpaw meowed, and dashed after the brown warrior.

"Blizzardpaw, wait!" Badgerpaw yowled. He looked back at Russetpaw and Brightpaw. "We must follow her," he told them.

The two apprentices nodded and dashed after Blizzardpaw who had taken it on herself to find out who Spottedclaw was meeting. Badgerpaw had told Jollypaw to go and get her mentor, Ashclaw, and then come back and follow their scent, so they could meet up later. Badgerpaw led his friends after Blizzardpaw, and they followed her scent as well as Spottedclaw's. He soon realized, as they were weaving among the branches through the forest, that they were heading for the DarkClan border. Suddenly, Badgerpaw remembered that Spottedclaw was Darkshadow's son! And Darkshadow was really Tigerstar! Something sinister was connected to that, because he might be the one that Spottedclaw was meeting with.

As they neared closer to the border, the masked apprentice suddenly felt apprehensive. He could hear voices! They finally made it to the birch tree forest, and the voices were coming from the other side. There were three. One sounded like Spottedclaw, the other Darkshadow, and the last… _No,_ Badgerpaw thought. _It can't be. He was sent into exile!_

The last voice was… Coldheart.


	10. Chapter 8

**A/N: For some reason, I really like Russetpaw in this chapter. ^^ Hehe. Such brotherly love he has for his sister. Oh, Imma start giving away plushies (even though there are only 2 more chapter left but oh well). So, if you review, you get a Russetpaw plushie, that mews, "Blizzardpaw! I'm coming!" every time you squeeze his paw. How cute is that?! :D**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors, though I wish I did.**

_**CHAPTER 8**_

Brightpaw gasped. "Coldheart is here!" she whispered to Badgerpaw.

"I know," he nodded. "But where is Blizzardpaw? I can't see her anywhere!"

"What if _they_ have her?" Brightpaw mewed, horrified.

Russetpaw made a weird strangling noise that was too loud. Immediately the voices quieted, as if the cats were listening to something. "What was that?" the three hidden apprentices heard Spottedclaw hiss.

"Don't know, I'll go check." That was the deep grating voice of Coldheart. Badgerpaw held his breath as quiet pawsteps slowly came closer. He prepared himself to see the former deputy's bulky shape beyond the trees. The padding became a rustle, and Coldheart's head poked out of a bush. _Of course he had crawled here, not walked!_ He should have thought of that sooner.

Badgerpaw's fur started to bristle with fear as Coldheart slowly realized who was in front of him. The masked apprentice who had attacked him three moons before on the dawn of the DarkClan/ rogue attack. His stern frown became a sinister smile that chilled Badgerpaw to the marrow of his bones.

"Hello, Badgerpaw. Did you miss me?" he purred, voice as sweet, thick and smooth as fresh honey, yet his inquisitive, amber eyes hardened into steel rocks.

Badgerpaw quickly glanced back and saw that, although they looked terrified half to death, Brightpaw and Russetpaw remained behind him, loyal as ever could be. They were such great friends, and were very dear to him. He would not let the black and white tom before him hurt them. Bravely swallowing his fear, Badgerpaw forced his fur to lay flat. He would not let Coldheart see how afraid he was. Never.

Stamping down his paw, he snarled, "You'll never harm ForestClan! Because _I_ won't let you!"

Coldheart looked slightly taken aback, and Badgerpaw noticed confusion and surprise briefly flickering in his eyes. However, he quickly recovered, gaining back his harmful look. "I know that," he purred, making Badgerpaw shudder. "Which is why not me, but another cat will. And that is fine enough for me, as long as that flame cat destroys ForestClan, and rips you to shreds. So," he mewed, baring his sharp white teeth. "I believe you know too much now, which is why I must deal with you." Without warning, he lunged, unsheathed claws, paws outstretched.

As he leaped out of the bush, Badgerpaw saw he had grown much thinner. Coldheart was aiming for his eyes, a cat's weakest spot. Badgerpaw yowled in fear, and shot away just in time, as Coldheart lashed out his paw. It was a near miss.

Brightpaw and Russetpaw jumped out of their terrified reverie, and battled with Coldheart as well. Badgerpaw suddenly realized that Blizzardpaw's scent was fading quickly. He yowled to his two den-mates to keep Coldheart distracted, then he ran into the birch tree forest. He weaved through the bracken and undergrowth with skill and broke out of the protective covering. He had ran out near the edge of the flooded stream and caught himself as his paw slid on the slippery edge. He pulled back, his eyes shining in fear. When he was on safe dry ground again, he looked around. There were no cats to be seen anywhere.

He lifted his head to the air and scented Darkshadow, Spottedclaw, and… _Blizzardpaw!_ Suddenly the reek of blood hit the roof of his mouth. Badgerpaw panicked and ran after the scent. It went along the bank a little ways, then disappeared, all three scents. When he lifted his head to check again, he could faintly sense the scent wafting from the other side of the flooded stream. A regular hop couldn't take him over. Badgerpaw realized he must do the bird crouch, the hunting move ending with a high and far leap to catch his prey. He knew he still needed much work on it, but he went back to the edge of the trees and dropped into the starting position.

_StarClan, help me! _he prayed silently. Then he crept forward, paws slowly then quickly going one in front of the other, tail waving to keep his balance. He went faster then faster and almost stumbling he kicked his paws hindpaws off the ground and he was… flying. His body soared over the water and landed on flat ground with a tail-length to spare. He knew that StarClan had helped him, but he also knew that he had mastered the bird crouch. If Lightstep had been there, she would have been bursting with pride.

Dazed from the landing, Badgerpaw stumbled. As he had scented, the scents were fresher over here, and the fresh tang of spilled blood filled his glands, almost choking him. Wait, _spilled _blood? He looked behind a bush. Yes, Badgerpaw was right: some blood had been spattered here.

All of a sudden he heard a cat yowling in pain and fear. It sounded like… _Darkshadow?_ Badgerpaw abandoned his pursuit to speed off towards the yodeling noise. He swept past bushes, dead leaves, branches, and even a dead rabbit washed up on the bank. He wrinkled his nose at its rotting stench as tiny buzzing mayflies gathered around it. He came to this large rock with a small hollow etched into it. The rock was in the middle of the stream, and the yowls came from inside. Badgerpaw's ears twitched. This cat was reincarnated from Tigerstar, wasn't he? No, that he may be, but Badgerpaw wasn't cold hearted. Darkshadow was a respected and revered Clan-mate. He had a foul temper, but Badgerpaw never knew him to literally kill cats like Tigerstar. The masked apprentice jumped into the swiftly flowing water, and kicked out strongly. The hollow was only a little ways over. In a few heartbeats he dragged himself in, and shook water droplets off his fur.

Badgerpaw looked up. Darkshadow was lying on his back, his breathing was fast and shallow, his tail was twitching, and his usually bright amber eyes were just faintly glimmering. Badgerpaw thought he could faintly see the forests of StarClan reflected in them. "Darkshadow?" he mewed. "What… what happened?"

The light gray tom slowly looked up, and water trickled out of his open mouth. "Spottedclaw ditched me," he rasped. "Took Blizzardpaw with him. I tried to-to stop him, but he pushed me into… the stream. I nearly drowned, but I at least managed to drag myself into here." It was taking him more effort to speak now. "I… I remember… when you… were born… I was so proud of- of you, Lilyflower and… and I both. My… My son, I shall see you… again… in the ranks of… the heavenly ancestors. G-Good-bye, Badgerpaw." His head lolled to one side, and his harsh breathing stopped completely. Darkshadow was dead.

Badgerpaw was shocked. He had never really known his parents. His mother had given birth to him, but she had to give him to another queen to suckle him. She had had too many kits, and two had died when Badgerpaw was 4 moons old. It would have been very awkward to switch queens at that age, because Badgerpaw had already become very close with his own queen's kits: Brightpaw and Owlpaw.

Badgerpaw cocked his head. If his father was Darkshadow, and so was Spottedclaw's… then that meant the apprentice and the warrior were brothers!!! !!! !!!!!! Spottedclaw had only been born in a different litter. One that was before Badgerpaw's.

He lowered his head. He was very ashamed that he had ever called this cat a reincarnation of Tigerstar. Darkshadow was never evil, only a loyal, but short-tempered warrior, that was maybe a little misguided in a few places. Badgerpaw thought he cold have been imagining the hunger in the gray warrior's eyes when Creamtail was named deputy.

"Badgerpaw!" he heard Brightpaw call. "We K.O.'d Coldheart! Where are you?"

Badgerpaw looked up. They were back! He reached down and grabbed Darkshadow's scruff, then he carefully dragged it to the hollow's entrance. He plunged into the water and kicked out for the grassy bank. When he dragged the dead body to the top of the ridge, he looked around for his mottled brown crush. She was crouching under a bush, a tail-length away.

"Badgerpaw!" she hissed. "Leave that thing alone; let the foxes and hawks eat it! He's one of the enemies, remember?"

"No, he's not," Badgerpaw shook his head.

"What? Why!" Brightpaw mewed in confusion.

Badgerpaw looked at his paws. "He was my father."

Russetpaw, Jollypaw, Owlpaw, and Ashclaw ran out of the trees. "Darkshadow was your what?!" Owlpaw bristled, green eyes blazing in shock.

"My father," he repeated, looking up.

Ashclaw nodded in agreement. "Yes, it's true. I was also there when Lilyflower's kits were born. Darkshadow was swelling up with so much pride, it looked like he was going to explode."

"Where's Blizzardpaw? We need to go find her!" Russetpaw fretted, looking about wildly.

"My brother has her," Badgerpaw gasped.

"Your brother? You have a brother?" Brightpaw wailed, cocking her head.

"Yes, Spottedclaw. Don't you remember he is also Darkshadow's son?" Badgerpaw mewed in irritation.

"Oh, that's right! Yes, I do remember."

Ashclaw shook his pelt. "Enough. While we sit here gossiping like elders, Spottedclaw is probably doing something to Blizzardpaw, the poor thing. And Coldheart could awaken at any moment. Let's go."

"Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh, we should be going right now!" Owlpaw chipped in.

Badgerpaw looked down at Darkshadow's gray pelt. "I'll put him in the bushes so we can bury him later. In an _honorable_ way," he added sternly, glancing at Brightpaw.

Ashclaw nodded impatiently, while Badgerpaw went to hide the body in the bushes. Meanwhile, Russetpaw was crouching miserably, staring into space. He was afraid for his sister, Badgerpaw guessed. After he padded out, Ashclaw flicked his tail, and the apprentices followed him. The gray warrior swiftly ran to a thin part of the stream, and Badgerpaw gingerly splashed across the shallow water; he hated getting his paws wet, and he rarely ever did, but this was an emergency, as was going to see Darkshadow inside the rock. He would risk his life to save any of his Clan-mates in trouble, even Brightpaw… Especially her.

Over the moons he had known her, Badgerpaw loved her more and more everyday. In fact, he loved her more than he loved Quickpaw, and that was a serious achievement.

He wrinked his nose in disgust as he treaded through the wet spongy marsh. With every step, his big paw sunk half-way into the muck, and he had to pull it out with force. Every time he pulled free, the mud beneath popped back into place, making an odd _shplopping_ sound. As the group ran swiftly on, they produced a loud chorus of _splops_. _Shplop, shplop, shplop splop shplop_. Finally they came across a small clump of windblown trees, all swaying back and forth, their bare branches waving gracefully to and fro. Badgerpaw looked up. He hadn't noticed that the sky had become white as snow, blocking out the sun's warmth.

A furious yowl sounded from the trees.

"Blizzardpaw!" Russetpaw yowled back. "I'm coming, sister!"

They burst through into the clearing. All there was, was bare ground with a few yellow patches of grass here and there, and a small rocky den at the far edge. Another yowl erupted from the cleft. Badgerpaw flicked his tail at the den and hissed at Asshclaw: "That must be where Spottedclaw is keeping Blizzardpaw."

"Yes, the scent does lead that way," Ashclaw agreed. "But Spottedclaw's scent-trail leads back out and further across DarkClan territory."

Badgerpaw winced. He hadn't noticed that the spotted warrior's trail had led somewhere else. "Right," he mewed, "I believe that Jollypaw, Brightpaw, and Owlpaw should go after Spottedclaw, while Ashclaw, Russetpaw and myself go and check out the den. Everybody okay with that?"

Ashclaw was nodding thoughtfully, and Owlpaw was looking at the ground, making scratches with his claws. Jollypaw's eyes brimmed with gratitude. "I'd love to go and catch that traitor, Spottedclaw. Thanks, Badgerpaw!"

"Yes, thank you," Brightpaw quietly agreed, nervously licking her chest fur.

Russetpaw bounced at the opportunity, yet worry still shone in his eyes. "I sure hope Blizzardpaw is okay," he chittered. "I hope nothing bad happened to her. If so, then who am I going to play 'Firestar and the Quest to Find SkyClan' with?"

"Don't worry, we'll save her," Ashclaw murmured to him. Then he turned to Badgerpaw, his chest all buffed out. "You can count me in, Badgerpaw!" he declared.

"Great! Now, while you three," he gestured to Brightpaw, Owlpaw, and Jollypaw, "are chasing after my traitor brother, Ashclaw, Russetpaw, and I will quickly work out a battle plan."

The apprentices nodded in agreement. "What will we do if we catch him, though?" Jollypaw ventured.

"Keep him pinned down until we come and take over with Blizzardpaw. Be careful of DarkClan patrols, and _try not to get caught. _I trust you guys, and if you do get caught, don't fight. Let them take you back to their camp, and from there try to escape," Badgerpaw explained, sternly looking at each of the cats. "You should go now, before Spottedclaw has any more time to distance himself further from us."

Almost before Badgerpaw stopped talking, his fellow Clan-mates' tail-tips disappeared through the bare trees.

"Well, that takes care of them," Russetpaw observed. "So, what's the game plan, then?"

Ashclaw, you take my right flank," Badgerpaw ordered. "And Russetpaw, my left."

"I don't usually take orders from an apprentice, but even I don't have such a cool head on my shoulders," grumbled the silver coated warrior. He took his orders and followed them anyways.

"Right," Badgerpaw meowed. "We advance quietly, because another cat might still be in there. I mean, of course, Blizzardpaw would be," he added, rolling his eyes in a vain attempt to be sarcastic. "But, when we get there, we need to jump him or her, and take them by surprise. Got it?"

Ashclaw and Russetpaw nodded in understanding. "Let's go, and maybe-"

Badgerpaw cut the older cat off. "We go on _my _orders," he snarled, suddenly irritated. This was _his _plan, not mouse-dung Ashclaw's! If he wanted to go order apprentices around, then that was fine by Badgerpaw, but not if _he _was one of the apprentices. Just as suddenly, the masked apprentice calmed down. "Sorry," he muttered to a genuinely looking hurt Ashclaw who quickly recovered with a gruff shake of his head.

Settling into their positions at the edge of the bare clearing, Badgerpaw looked on either side of him. Ashclaw: the cunning ForestClan deputy, fur as silver as if moonlight washed over it; Russetpaw: the anxious and young apprentice who pined for his sister to play with him again; and he himself, Badgerpaw: the only apprentice in the whole of ForestClan who has undergone so many changes and mysteries that the average apprentice normally wouldn't encounter at such a young age. Barely his whole life, even. Badgerpaw smirked. He wasn't that sure, but he thought of himself to be part of at least one prophecy. Elders would tell his generation's story a million times over, for many hundreds of seasons to come.

Badgerpaw flicked his gray tail. That was the signal. Immediately the three ForestClan cats advanced slowly on the den which they suspected that Blizzardpaw to be in.

_StarClan help us, _Badgerpaw prayed silently. _I hope this is the right thing to do._


	11. Chapter 9

**A/N: Owlpaw is one of my fave chars, and I hope he is one of yours, too! Please review, and you get a... an Owlpaw plushie! He's holding his paw up and it has a thorn stuck in it, and if you squeeze his paw, he yelps! Pretty ashum, no? LOL!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors.... Wah.**

_**CHAPTER 9**_

_Please, StarClan, don't turn your backs on us, _Badgerpaw prayed again when they were a fox-length from the lichen covered entrance. There were some brambles bordering the mouth of the den. He looked inside the darkness, and against the light background, it stood out like a black gaping hole. The masked apprentice stared in shock as two faint pinpricks of light flickered feebly before disappearing again.

"Are we really going in there?" Ashclaw whispered fiercely to Badgerpaw. "It doesn't look like we'll be able to maneuver to attack in that small space if an enemy cat lurks in it."

Badgerpaw saw the sense in the senior warrior's words. It looked like one more cat could fit; they couldn't all go at the same time. The entrance was small, and it looked like Badgerpaw's ears would rake the ceiling. The two cats surely couldn't go in. That left the last and smallest cat: Russetpaw. He was so small he could easily slip in without being seen. No cat would ever suspect a thing, inside the den or out.

"Well, surely you two couldn't fit since you're so _big_," the ginger apprentice piped up. "So, that leaves just little old me. Wait, that's not right! How- how could _I _go? I'm no more than a mere kit!" He started backing away from the cave-den, pale vivid blue eyes wide in fear and shock. "I'm too small… too small, I tell you!"

"Exactly," said Badgerpaw. "Small enough to not bump your head on the ceiling; you're just the right size. Now go on." He gave him a nudge that sent him sprawling into the tunnel.

"Oomph!" Russetpaw squeaked as he hit the ground. The tom got up and glared out of the den at the snickering Badgerpaw and Ashclaw. He shook it off quickly and lumbered into the darkness, making rocks clatter into the sides of the tunnel.

Many heartbeats passed with the two anxiously waiting. Then came a sharp muffled cry that startled them, "Blizzardpaw! Are you okay? Speak to me, come on, you must!"

Then came a barely audible groan that sounded somewhat like the small white apprentice.

"She's in there!" Badgerpaw whispered to Ashclaw.

"Why are you whispering?" Ashclaw meowed, cocking his head.

The masked apprentice shrugged and called to Russetpaw, "Is she okay in there? Can you drag her out?"

They heard some shifting and clattering, and then Russetpaw yowled, "No, she's too heavy! I'll need some help!"

"I'm coming in then!" Badgerpaw turned to Ashclaw, who nodded encouragingly.

He crouched down and slunk through, laying his ears flat so they didn't scrape against the ceiling. He crawled through the dark for a few heartbeats before finally entering a medium-large chilly room. He saw two pinpricks of blue light that he supposed were Russetpaw's eyes. The light was blinking by the ground, that near another set of pinpricks that were light green. Blizzardpaw's eyes?

Badgerpaw started. Just a mouse-length away from the two, he thought he saw two dark green eyes, blazing intensely. When he took a step towards them, they disappeared and a yowling pale brown bundle of fur sped past them and out of the cave. _Could it be?_ Badgerpaw thought. The cat had looked like Spottedclaw. Maybe it was! _Well, no,_ Badgerpaw shook his head in doubt; _Spottedclaw's scent led away from the clearing, not into this den. Unless there is a back-way…_

Sure enough, he heard whispers coming from the other side of the cave. "He went that way!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Quit bickering, you two!" came a hiss from Owlpaw.

Russetpaw's light blue eyes looked at Badgerpaw. "Help!" he whispered.

He crept toward them. Then, three figures burst into the cave through the roof, screaming, "Get him! Get Spottedclaw! Yeahh!"

Brightpaw bowled Badgerpaw over as if he were a weak starling. "I found him!" she yowled.

"Brightpaw, no! I'm Badgerpaw! Not Spottedclaw!" he screeched; his life depended on it.

Brightpaw was on his back, shredding his ears with her claws. As soon as the words left his mouth, he felt her heavy weight suddenly lighten as if she had rolled off of him.

"Oh no, I'm so sorry, Badgerpaw!" she gasped, taking a step backward.

Badgerpaw ignored her and instead turned to Russetpaw and Blizzardpaw, who were being attacked by Owlpaw and Jollypaw. The two older apprentices had heard Badgerpaw and now they were backing away from their fellow den-mates. "Sorry," they apologized.

"Right, you three," Badgerpaw nodded to the new-comers. "Help Russetpaw and I carry out Blizzardpaw."

They quickly obliged, carrying the small injured apprentice out into the open, well away from the den. They set her down gently and just as quickly, Badgerpaw cast about for Spottedclaw's scent. He found that it led out of the cave, and through the bushes. Ashclaw's scent appeared to be following his. Badgerpaw padded back to the group and told Brightpaw, Jollypaw, and Russetpaw to stay behind with Blizzardpaw to protect her in case anything happened. "What about me?" Owlpaw inquired, mottled face dark with defiance.

"You are coming with me. Come on," he flicked his tail for his former best friend to follow as he padded through the prickly bushes.

"Ouch," Owlpaw grumbled as he brushed past the thorns.

"Shake it off, shake it off," Badgerpaw murmured as Owlpaw nursed his scratched paw.

"I'll shake it off when I get this thorn out of my pad!" he yowled.

"I'll get it out for you," Badgerpaw mewed with gritted teeth. He grabbed the paw and deftly snipped out the prick.

Owlpaw put his paw down on the ground and winced. "It still hurts a little," he noted, his eyes narrowed. "But, I suppose I can go on." He licked the scratch briefly before getting up again.

"Let's go."

Hours dragged past with the two following Ashclaw's scent-trail. Owlpaw still winced every time he set his paw on the ground, though. Badgerpaw grew more annoyed every time the mottled brown apprentice gasped with pain. He finally whipped around to face Owlpaw, then his paw sank deep into the mud. "Listen, you-" Badgerpaw started to growl, but Owlpaw gasped in shock.

"Look!" he mewed, pointing over the masked apprentice's shoulder.

Badgerpaw couldn't look behind him however, for his paw was sinking like a log in the bog. "Aagh! Help me!" he squeaked.

All of a sudden, a shadow fell over him. He looked up. A hawk!!! He was helpless and Owlpaw was still too "weak" from the thorn. Badgerpaw just had to face it: he was going to die…

…Or not? A howling whirr of fur and claws careened out of a scrubby bush and hurled itself near them. It knocked Owlpaw and Badgerpaw onto dry ground, and Badgerpaw's paw came free with a _shplop. _Just as the two apprentices were safe, the hawk dropped down, swooping in the cool current. Then the creature that had saved their lives leaped high into the air and neatly wrestled the bird of prey onto the ground where it lashed out for the final blow.

The hawk now dead, the animal turned. It looked like a dog of some wily and tough sort, but it was much more lean and dangerous-looking, and its pelt gave off the scents of the wild. "I am Rose-mira," the dog-like creature rumbled.

Owlpaw and Badgerpaw flinched. The stranger could_ speak cat??? _What was it, anyways?

"I am a coyote, and I live in the water-lands behind us," the coyote added. "Just across the running water."

Badgerpaw looked around. He hadn't noticed, but they were by the edge of DarkClan territory, and Ashclaw and Spottedclaw's scents lead across the stream.

He stepped forward. This Rose-mira seemed nice enough, even wise. "I am Badgerpaw," he began, pointing his tail-tip to his chest. "And this is Owlpaw," he prodded his den-mate's chest with his tail-tip. "Thank you very much for saving us from the hawk."

"You are quite welcome." Rose-mira smiled. "Just earlier, around mid-sun, a gray one and a brown one of your kind came through here, crossing the running water. Are you following them?"

"Yes, thank you," Badgerpaw dipped his head in respect.

"Well, I should be going back to my Tribe now," Rose-mira said. Her brush swept up to hide her nose, then swept back again, before her ears twitched twice.

She looked at the two, obviously expecting them to do the same. It seemed to be some kind of good-bye signal. Owlpaw and Badgerpaw repeated the gesture and soon after, Rose-mira left, dragging the hawk with her, and nodding good-bye to the two apprentices. "Well, she seemed nice," Owlpaw mewed.

Badgerpaw agreed.

They had crossed the stream and into StreamClan territory, still following the scent-trail. There was nothing here but flat grassy land with very few trees and streams crossing everywhere and over each other repeatedly. All the water was connected and it seemed to be like a maze of mini-rivers. It was getting well on to night-time by now, and Owlpaw was complaining.

"How much _longer? _I haven't eaten in _forever!"_

Badgerpaw hushed him. "Quiet, if you smell Spottedclaw's scent, you can tell that he was starting to tire by the time he got here." He put his head to the ground and sniffed again. The scent was fairly fresh, like he had passed here only an hour ago. Ashclaw's scent was maybe a few minutes fresher though. "Hot on his tail," Badgerpaw commented.

"Badgerpaw, when will we eat?" came a hissing reply. "I'm so hungry, I could _eat_ a badger!"

The masked apprentice turned on him. "Soon, but not while we're on StreamClan territory!" he bristled. "Look," he pointed with his tail, "we're by the stream that marks the edge of MoorClan territory. Most likely they went through there. I hope we don't bump into the evening patrol, or…" he gulped and added in a barely audible whisper, "_or Quickpaw._"

"Hey, do you have this thing for that cat?" Owlpaw asked, moss-green eyes suddenly wide with curiosity. "If you do, I will not tell anyone. I swear to StarClan," he added.

Badgerpaw raised an eyebrow at the mottled brown cat. Why was he acting like a grumpy old elder, and then suddenly transforming into the sweetest little kit? _Maybe because he likes secrets, _he concluded. _Yes, that may be just it._ He decided to tell him anyhow.

"Well, I used to have somewhat of a crush on her," he meowed, sitting down. Owlpaw followed the gesture, eager eyes alight with burning curiosity. "We had only met once, and already I felt attracted to her beauty. The next time we met, we talked to each other only briefly. But I knew from that meeting, that she loved me as I loved her. We had started out friends, and have been friends ever since, even though I don't know if she still loves me or not. I hope she has moved on, as I have. I wouldn't want our relationship to be broken apart by Clan rivalries. There would be too much to lose, and I would never want to break her heart…"

Owlpaw flicked his ears in acknowledgement to his explanation, and stood up. "Well, how have you moved on?"

Badgerpaw looked up at his friend. His eyes blazed with a furious sadness. "Bright…paw," he quietly murmured.

"Oh!" Owlpaw's eyes widened in surprise. "That… actually explains a lot…"

Badgerpaw hung his head, depressed. Owlpaw looked around nervously, then cautiously crept over to the miserable apprentice. He sat down and comfortingly pressed his warm fur against Badgerpaw's.

The masked apprentice had finally been forgiven.


	12. Chapter 10

**A/N: Hey, if you review, you get a small collection of limited-edition plushies: Quickpaw, Thrushwing, and Spottedclaw! So hurry up and be one of the first 5 reviewers! please!**

**Disclaimer: Skypaw does not own Warriors. STOP.**

_**CHAPTER 10**_

The two moved on after almost an hour's silence full of pented-up emotions: sorrow, grief, and relief, even, for the tension between them finally had evaporated. Crossing the stream didn't take much effort. This one hadn't flooded like the one bordering ForestClan and DarkClan. It had dried up, actually. All it took was a simple leap, which Badgerpaw was more than capable of, even after grieving for his loss of Quickpaw.

They traveled on through MoorClan territory, always on the alert for enemy patrols. They still pursued the scents, stopping to rest more and more often. At the fifth time they stopped to take a break, Owlpaw wearily mewed, "This is hopeless. Spottedclaw and Ashclaw are taking us further and further into MoorClan territory. At this rate, we'll be so far behind, their tracks will disappear altogether!"

Badgerpaw tiredly agreed.

"And what's more, we're weakening. We haven't had food for more than two days," he paused to look up at the yellow moon. It was slowly waning as the month went on. "If an MoorClan patrol found us now, they would beat us up until we joined StarClan…"

Badgerpaw's ears pricked up as a night breeze blew through his whiskers. He hadn't noticed before, but now he could hear cats meowing in the distance.. he recognized Spottedclaw's and Ashclaw's voices. Wait, what- Oh, Spottedclaw! Ashclaw! There was another voice, Badgerpaw thought he could vaguely recognize it, though… Who was that?

Then he caught a scent… _Her _scent. Oh, gosh, no.

_No. No, no, no! _he thought, panicking. _It can't be her, it just can't!_

Owlpaw sensed his friend's uneasiness. "What's wrong?" he murmured, prodding Badgerpaw with his tail.

Badgerpaw could barely speak. He let out a strangled hiss as Owlpaw jabbed at his side. He wanted to run, but he could not. Not if he wanted to face his traitor brother. He absolutely had to face that white apprentice as well. No doubt about that. That white apprentice whom he used to love moons back… It just couldn't be possible she was so nearby… He vainly tried to engulf his fear with hazy shrouds and send it off to StarClan or somewhere. His hoarse voice was barely above a whisper as he told Owlpaw, "I can scent Spottedclaw and Ashclaw behind that hill over there. Somebody else is with them, and- I believe it's… it's…"

"Well?" Owlpaw prompted. "Go on, then."

But Badgerpaw just couldn't bring himself to say her name. The name of the cat he thought he loved. "Go and see for yourself," he sobbed.

"Fine, maybe I will," came the reply. "And you are coming with me."

Before Badgerpaw could miserable protest, Owlpaw had already dragged him half-way up the hill. _Well, I suppose he's pretty strong, _Badgerpaw thought crossly. _He'll have an easy time with the pretty she-cats…_

**...**

When they got to the top of the hill, the moon and the night stars had begun to fade, to be replaced by the pretty skies of dawn. The emerald green grass was topped over with sparkling dewdrops and Badgerpaw shook off the clinging water from his paws in disgust. "Oh, look!" Owlpaw whispered excitedly as they looked down at the bottom.

Ashclaw had Spottedclaw tightly guarded by a patrol of MoorClan cats while he was speaking with Froststar, who was apparently leading the border patrol. Badgerpaw's eyes roved around the clearing, searching for that apprentice… there she was. Quickpaw was standing by Spottedclaw, trying to get a conversation out of him. Her only replies were glares and angry mumbles muffled by a mouthful of dirt.

"There they are," Owlpaw breathed in awe. "It looks like they've got that traitor down good."

They exchanged knowing glances.

The mottled brown apprentice called down, "Hey, what's new!" He waved his tail a few times and quickly descended the gentle slope. Badgerpaw followed, trying hard not to make eye contact with any of the warriors, especially Quickpaw.

Ashclaw broke off from his conversation and greeted them warmly. "Hello, how are you two? Have you eaten yet?"

Badgerpaw splayed a paw wearily. "We are indeed. We haven't had anything to eat since about two days ago… Because we aren't allowed to hunt in other Clan territories, right? It's against the warrior code?"

Ashclaw nodded. "Yes, it is, and it's totally understandable if that's what has you ailing." He turned to Froststar. "May one of your warriors hunt with Badgerpaw and Owlpaw?" he politely asked.

She nodded, her head lifted noblely. "I'll send two: Quickpaw and Thrushwing."

Quickpaw and a jet-black tom stepped forward. Badgerpaw guessed that Thrushwing was a senior warrior. He didn't meet Quickpaw's eyes; instead, he let Thrushwing lead their hunting patrol.

**...**

The patrol came back by sun-high, their jaws laden with rabbits. The tempting aroma tickled Badgerpaw's nostrils, and he resisted the urge to scoff his rabbit down at once. Instead, he set it down by a small cave in one of the hills. The others followed his example, and each took one rabbit for themselves. Quickpaw took the rest and brought them to Ashclaw, Froststar, Brokenfang, and Breathstep. Three of which thanked her kindly, but Brokenfang muttered to himself as he picked at the fresh-kill.

Quickpaw came back to the group, and they ate in silence. When they all finished, they shared tongues and settled down for a nap.

When Badgerpaw woke again, it was dusk. He got up and stretched his cramped muscles. Then he got down to grooming his ruffled fur.

"Hello."

Badgerpaw jumped in the air, startled. "What? Aah!"

Quickpaw blinked, embarrassed, when Badgerpaw settled down and saw it was her.

"Erm, sorry…" she murmured, looking away.

"N-no! It's… that's okay," Badgerpaw stammered. "I'm the one who's sorry. I… I get startled easily, heh heh," he chuckled nervously, his eyes narrowing.

Quickpaw nodded and looked down at her paws. "Yeah," she mewed dryly.

A long silence enfolded between the two. They hadn't seen each other in practically 3 moons or more. This unexpected meeting had come as a shock to them. Badgerpaw had secretly been harboring a hope that he wouldn't see Quickpaw ever again, but now he was actually _having a conversation with her. _Oh, StarClan, no… Nonononononononononononononononono!!!!

"So," Quickpaw broke the silence. "What's been up with you lately?" She swiftly glanced up at Badgerpaw, her eyes wide with… hope?

"Well, I became friends with Owlpaw's sister-"

"Hear she's a pretty one…" Quickpaw murmured, nodding her head worriedly.

"-Owlpaw and I got into a quarrel, but now we're best friends again."

Quickpaw bit her bottom lip, still nodding. An odd expression was on her face.

"And… I don't know if I should be telling you this or not, but- Tabbystar got blinded by a golden eagle!" Badgerpaw added in a whisper.

Quickpaw didn't cry out in shock, she didn't even look worried anymore! It was like she just didn't care. However, she sighed and looked away into the distance, the hope completely drained from her magnificent leaf-colored eyes. Misery and forlorn replaced it.

Badgerpaw felt totally effected by her posture. He slumped his shoulders, and his twitching tail lay limp. _Why is she so upset? _he wondered. _Maybe she still likes me?_

_No, that can't be possible! It's been way too long for that to go on! _a thought nagged him.

He became angry and snapped at the mouse-dung thought: _Go away! I know that already! Shoo! Shoo! _

It didn't exactly work, but the thought didn't bother him again, at least.

Quickpaw settled down and put her chin on her paws, staring out at the pretty sunset. "I heard that you ForestClanners are going back to your territory tonight," she mewed. "Froststar is sending Thrushwing and I to lead you to the edge of our territory."

Badgerpaw glanced at her for a heartneat before he went back to grooming his tangled fur, biting out all the burrs and mud. He mewed in acknowledgement.

Just then, Ashclaw came padding over. He mewed to Badgerpaw, "We're leaving at twilight, you must eat before then."

Badgerpaw nodded.

The gray warrior turned to Quickpaw. "You should eat-"

"I have already," she muttered as she stalked away.

"Very well then," he curtly nodded and trotted back to the other senior warriors, who were holding a quick meeting.

Badgerpaw stood up and went to the small Fresh-Kill Pile. He picked out a mouse that seemed to have seen good times lately, and he bit down.

When he finished, he went over to where Owlpaw was still sleeping. He prodded at his friend's side, repeating ish name over and over. The mottled brown apprentice's eyes fluttered as he woke up. "Wha-at?" he yawned and turned his head upward.

"Wakey wakey time," Badgerpaw cooed. "Haha, well, we're leaving at twilight, and you should eat."

Owlpaw glared at him, and gave another yawn. "What about you?"

"I did already."

"Oh, foxdung."

**...**

Badgerpaw looked up. The moon was rising, and it looked a little smaller than the night previously. Stars were appearing, some bright and big like warriors, and some just a faint twinkle in the sky, like the oldest elders of StarClan. The gray sky was slowly darkening until it became a pretty purplish-blue. Ashclaw padded to his side.

"It is time," he said.

Badgerpaw nodded and poked Owlpaw, who was trying to catch a moth. "Time to go," he told the busy apprentice.

Owlpaw pounced, and came up with a mouthful of moth. He spat it out indignantly. "Yuck!" he exclaimed. "That's disgusting!!"

Badgerpaw purred in amusement. "That's why your mother told you that you shouldn't play with your food!"

Owlpaw grinned, showing bits of moth fluff and juices in his teeth.

Ashclaw turned and flicked his tail for the two apprentices. Thrushwing and Quickpaw came over with Spottedclaw sulking between them. The golden warrior muttered something under his breath and Quickpaw nudged him, her tail lashing in playful fury.

They set off as the moon and stars became more illustrious, Thrushwing, Quickpaw, and Spottedclaw leading.

**...**

The small patrol had padded across breezy moors, over large hills, and through forests of tall green grass. It was almost dawn when they reached the MoonCave. The stream that bordered the two territories lead into it.

"We will stay here until sun-high to rest," Thrushwing rumbled as he sat down. His tail curled over his big black paws.

"What about the other apprentices?" Owlpaw suddenly exclaimed. "My sister is still on DarkClan territory!"

"Don't worry, Owlpaw," Ashclaw calmly meowed. "I'm sure one of them has gone back to the camp for help. Brightpaw will be fine. They will have transported Blizzardpaw safely, as well."

"I hope," Quickpaw said. "I mean, Blizzardpaw is so young… I wouldn't wish anybody to die from being mauled like that." She gave Spottedclaw a hard glare, who squawked indignantly.

"What?!" he exclaimed.

Badgerpaw tipped his head inquiringly. How had Quickpaw known what happened to Blizzardpaw _and _ her pelt color? He and Owlpaw exchanged glances. Hiw own confusion was reflected in his friend's green eyes. Obviously, Owlpaw didn't know, either. Unless, Spottedclaw told…?

"When will we eat?" Spottedclaw whined. "I'm _hungry!" _

"Go scrounge for seeds, mousebrain. We're not taking you hunting," Quickpaw muttered.

Spottedclaw looked like he was about to protest, but he obviously thought better of it, as he shook his head and lay down on his side.

They had been napping for several heartbeats when a cat called to them, "Hey! Anybody here?"

It sounded like something was tromping across the moorland behind another hill.

Badgerpaw sleepily blinked, his amber orbs flashing. "Who are you?" he called back to the cat.

A head appeared over the hill. It was a flame-red tom with unusually large orange eyes. The cat looked to be at least apprentice age. He squeaked with joy at finding other beings of his own species. He slithered down the grassy slope and his tiny paws pounded rather loudly across the flat landscape as he came towards them.

Badgerpaw immediately stood up. "Who are you?" he repeated again, a chill crawling down his spine; this cat smelled very weird… A little… well, just abnormal.

Now that the tom was closer, he no longer looked as small as Russetpaw and Blizzardpaw. He was Badgerpaw's size and looked just as old, maybe a few moons older.

The flame-orange tom lifted his head and straightened up, then he strutted over to Badgerpaw. "My name is Flashfire," he clearly announced.

Badgerpaw nodded.

"I am a No-Clanner, or what you cats might call it, a loner. I am not a rogue, since I do not side with evilness, and I have no quarrel with any of the Clans, nor do I ever side with them. Who, may I ask, are you?"

_This cat is quite polite, _Badgerpaw thought. _Maybe of the coyote tribe?_

Cautiously, he asked Flashfire, "Do you know of someone called Rose-mira?"

"Rose-mira? Yes, I know her. She is my foster mother, and has raised me from a mere kit. It is to Rose that I owe my life. Why must you use her greeting name? How do you know her?"

"Well…" Badgerpaw poked Owlpaw, who was still asleep.

"What?"

"Wake up."

"Why?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

"Uh…" Badgerpaw thought for a minute and a devilish grin spread across his face. "Because manic badgers are about to eat you."

Owlpaw's eyes flew wide open, and he leaped to his feet. "Manic badgers? Where? Where! Hide me!" He hid behind Badgerpaw, tail twitching in fear.

Badgerpaw purred. "Tricked you," he teased.

Owlpaw came out from behind him, grumbling about how he would like to throttle a certain apprentice. He sat down and saw Flashfire. "Who's this?" he demanded.

Badgerpaw flicked his tail at the young tom, "This is Flashfire, a friend of the coyote tribe. He says that… er, Rose… was his foster mother. Rose is Rose-mira," he quickly added when a quizzical look began to spread across Owlpaw's face.

"Ah," the mottled brown apprentice nodded. "However could I have forgotten about Rose-mira, that ol' coyote what saved us from the hawk. Yes, yes."

Flashfire looked aghast at Owlpaw for some reason. He looked from Owlpaw to Bagderpaw, glassy eyes wild.

"What?" meowed the two apprentices in unison.

Flashfire started and his nervous look disappeared, to be replaced by a guarded curiosity. Obviously he hadn't meant for them to see his odd expression, for he immediately licked his chest fur. "Ah, er, nothing… So, uh, how did you meet her? Rose-mira, I mean?…"

Badgerpaw and Owlpaw exchanged confused glances. Why was Flashfire so secretive all of a sudden? Badgerpaw shook his head in wonder. He guessed he would just never know what went on in other cats' heads…

Just then, Ashclaw stirred from all the noise. His head sleepily lifted and his eyes fixed on Flashfire. He looked at Badgerpaw and Owlpaw. "What is the meaning of this?" he half-growled, half-yawned.

"Just a friend. His name is Flashfire," replied Badgerpaw.

At that, the silver deputy's ears perked up. "Flashfire? Hmm… That sounds like a warrior name…" He got up. "Are you from an enemy Clan? Tell me!" he spat.

Flashfire took a step back, sunset eyes twinkling. "Now, now, old elder," he nervously teased. "I am a loner. No need to be afraid…"

Ashclaw took a menacing step forward. "Are you sure? You're not from any of the four Warrior Clans from around the lake?"

Flashfire chuckled. "I think you mean the _five _clans from around the lake." He smirked. "I am from CoyoteClan, the tribe of coyotes."

Badgerpaw blinked. Huh? If Flashfire was from a Clan of coyotes, then how can it be called a Tribe? Shouldn't it be called the Tribe of Coyotes, then?

Flashfire didn't answer any of the question. However, he did ask one. "How did you come by my foster mother?" he mewed.

Owlpaw splayed his paw out. "We met her while chasing Spottedclaw around. In DarkClan territory, this hawk tried to get us, see. But then Rose came to save the day, and she killed the hawk. So it's thanks to her we're still here to tell the tale…"

Badgerpaw nodded. "It's very true!"

Ashclaw tipped his head. "I didn't know you trekked the whole way around the lake! I thought you came from ForestClan territory!"

Shaking his head, Badgerpaw meowed, "If we did, we would've had no idea where you went! You and Spottedclaw went around too, didn't you??"

"Yes," Ashclaw sighed, green eyes narrowing.

Flashfire pawed the ground impatiently. "Quite enough of this bickering!" he snapped.

Owlpaw looked at him weirdly. "We're not arguing, if that's what you meant…"

"I didn't-!" the ginger tom hissed. He turned away. "Oh, whatever!" he growled.

"So," Badgerpaw mewed. "What brings _you_ over here, Flashfire?"

"I want to join your Clan," he muttered under his breath.

"You want to what?"

"I sort of, um… I sort of want to join your Clan," Flashfire repeated a little louder.

"What was that?! We can't hear you!"

"I want to join your Clan!!" Flashfire yowled, shooting the snickering ForestClan cats a brooding look.

Ashclaw flicked his tail and tapped his shoulder. "If that's what you had wanted all along, you could have just told us," he calmly meowed.

"Oh," Flashfire mewed, eyeing him warily.

"Although, we may have to ask Tabbystar about it, but he might not agree… No wait, he retired. Whoops. Well, I say it's okay, anyways."

"Oh, thank you," Flashfire meowed, eyes flashing gratefully. "If I didn't, then I would have died-"

"Who is this?"

Thrushwing shouldered his way between the confused Badgerpaw and Ashclaw. "Having a talk with an intruder, eh? Convincing him to leave _MoorClan _territory? Very nice. I should gladly help." There was the silent sound of claws being unsheathed, as if the black tom was preparing to fight.

Badgerpaw realized what was happening just in time, and he hurled himself in front of the orange warrior. "No, Thrushwing," he growled. "Flashfire is a part of our Clan now. To attack him means to start a war between the two of our Clans. Do you really want that?"

The claws were sheathed once more. "I suppose not," Thrushwing sighed. "But if that cat sets one little paw over our border, from now on, then he is _crow-food. _I will make sure of that."

The end of Book One: Rise of the Darkness…

Please stay tuned for Book Two: The Betrayal!

**Hey. hey! Glad to see you made it to the end! I'll give you a hint of what is to happen in Book 2... Well, there's some fore-shadowing around Flashfire, and he's not who you think he really is... Okay, that's all I'm gonna say about it, and I'll give you a brief summary about The Betrayal.**

**The Betrayal**

**Badgerpaw has returned home to his Clan, but as soon as he arrives through the camp entrance, problems arise! How will he deal with Quickpaw always breathing down his neck, and what's with the ominous threat told by Moonwind and Tanglefur?Something sinister is going on, and Badgerpaw has to find out what!**

And, well, stay tuned, folks! ^^

-Skypaw


End file.
